Pretty Little Liars: Caught
by mockingjayme
Summary: This story is set 4 years after the infamous A stalking. The girls are about ready to start their Junior year in college. Though they are no longer together, this new A will bring them closer once again.
1. If the shoe Fitz

_*Set 4 years after the infamous A stalking has been done and over with. The girls are all about to enter into their Junior year in college._

CHAPTER ONE ~ If the shoe Fitz

Aria quickly ducked into a used book store on Grossmer Street. It wasn't the destination she had in mind, but the unexpected rain had other ideas. She shrugged out of her jacket and hung it on a metal rod with all the other jackets belonging to the four or five people that were actually in the store.

Seizing the opportunity, Aria unfolded her list of books she needed for her first semester as a college Junior. It was a fairly short list compared to all the other ones she'd had over the years. But chances were, in this little book shop, she wouldn't find what she was looking for. And although she didn't know it at the time, she would find exactly what she'd been looking for.

A half hour came and went, and Aria found herself buried in a book not on her list, tucked away in a quiet little corner where no one would even notice her. That was quite a problem for her, being sidetracked by a good read. She sighed, closed the book and stuck it under her arm, and went on to find some of the books she was supposed to find. The books were not listed in alphabetical order, and Aria wondered if they had some secret order that only the employees knew so that newcomers were forced to make conversation. It wasn't like people were knocking down the door to come in.

Aria spotted a man whom she assumed was an employee and made a beeline for him. Maybe he'd be cute and it really _wouldn't _be a waste. Since Noel and her had gone separate ways, Aria dubbed herself doomed. It'd been over two years since she'd had any kind of companionship, excluding her recently adopted husky, Ruby.

After slipping her fingers once through her hair, Aria reached out and tapped the man on his shoulder. She could tell by that little tap, that this man was b-u-i-l-t! He turned around to face her, and all the color left her face. She felt faint and had to grab the bookshelf behind her to stay standing. The man facing her had bottomless brown eyes, eyes you could get lost in. Eyes she felt she'd been lost in too, once upon a time. A slightly curved upper lip, one that she could almost see herself touching. And his face, a beautiful face it was, was one that had been in her dreams for years. Haunting her or reminding her of a beautiful memory, she wasn't sure. "Ezra?" She whispered breathlessly.

The shock registered on his face. Then confusion, wonder, excitement, and then it landed again on shocked. All in a matter of seconds. "Aria? Oh my God! How - how are you? How have you been?" He reached around and gave her a one-armed hug. But it wasn't a brush off hug, and when he leaned away, it still felt like he was there. He smelled the same.

Aria could only shake her head. And when she realized she was still smiling, she felt foolish and looked at the ground. "Wow." She whispered. "I've been…I've been pretty good, I guess. What about you? Wife? Kids?"

Ezra chuckled. "Me? No." He looked at her for a moment, a slight smile on his face. "I could never really…get serious about anyone. Else, I mean."

Aria could feel the heat rising in her cheeks. "Yeah. Me either." They looked at each other for a moment longer, until Aria just couldn't stand it anymore. It was fate. It had to be. "So, uh, do you want to go get…coffee? Or something? You know, to catch up. We have a lot to catch up on."

"Yeah. Yeah! Um, are you just in town visiting or something?" Ezra started to lead Aria to the door.

"Um, no, actually, I go to Brown." Ezra raised an eyebrow in approval. Aria felt her stomach take flight. "Because of you." she added quietly.

"What?" Ezra turned around, with Aria's coat in his hand.

"You had a Providence snow globe, and for some reason I always liked it. It was one of my favorites….besides the one you left me, of course." Everything got quiet. They were both reliving the pain of the premature separation. Or at least Aria was, and secretly, she was hoping he was too.

After a moment of silence, Ezra cleared his throat and helped Aria into her jacket. "We really do have some catching up to do." He opened the door, and stepped to the side to let Aria walk out first. He placed his hand on the small of her back, leading her towards his favorite coffee spot. Originally named The Coffee Spot.

It felt good. It felt right. He was touching her and every nerve and cell in her being was on high alert. They were in public together, and it was okay. No one was giving them dirty looks. It was natural. And it was the right-est thing Aria had ever known. She almost wanted to grab his hand and skip all the way to The Coffee Spot while simultaneously busting out in song. Okay, so she'd watched Across the Universe a little too much.

"It feels like forever, but it doesn't even feel like it's been a day." Aria said. With Ezra leading her, she closed her eyes for a moment to allow this beautiful perfect moment to actually sink in.

"I know what you mean." Ezra let his arm fall from her back. He traced his way down her arm until he found her hand. When they met, they fit together as if they'd been carefully crafted to be each other's other half. It was too good to be true. But it was. It was the first time in years that Aria actually felt like everything was exactly as it should be.

A few minutes later, they found themselves in a hip downtown coffee shop. Ezra opened the door for her, and they both stepped in. They sat down in a little booth in the corner. "You want anything?" Ezra asked her, motioning towards the counter.

"No. I'm too full of everything else to eat anything right now." Ezra nodded and scooted in next to her. The tension was almost unbearable. It felt like fire and electricity between their bodies. It still hadn't totally hit Aria that she was, in fact, sitting here, next to her one and only true love. He was here, and it was okay to be sitting next to him.

Ezra shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He looked at Aria, and Aria looked at him. That was all it took. They fell hard into each other's lips. Moving in perfect synchronization as if they had picked up exactly where they left off. And it felt good and right and like the stars, the moon, the earth, the solar system and the universe had all come together.

If this was a dream she sure as hell did not want to wake up.


	2. How are you, Miss Fields?

**I am going to try to update very often, but of course reviews would increase that want to finish by about 130%. Suggestions are always welcome! Thank you for reading and I really hope I don't waste your time : )**

CHAPTER TWO ~ How are you, Ms. Fields?

Emily Fields stood in waist-deep water. It had been so long since she had been in this pool. Or back in Rosewood for that matter. She swirled the water around her, trying to get a feel for it again. The truth was, she didn't feel _anything_. No nostalgia, no forgotten passion being reborn. Nothing. So why had she agreed to be the Rosewood girls' swim team coach? Perhaps she felt it would be a good enough reason to tell her parents why she quit college. Of course, they still had no idea.

Emily did a quick lap from one side of the other. She let the water consume her. She didn't want to think about what she would tell her parents. She knew from personal experience that they didn't deal well with anything out of the ordinary. Exhibit A, being a lesbian for about five minutes. But after all was said and done, she didn't know what pissed them off more; being a lesbian, or not being a lesbian. They felt like she had thrown them through a hoop only to pull the carpet out from underneath them again. 'Oops, sorry guys! False alarm!'

She got out of the pool. It didn't make her feel better anymore. And honestly, she was a little out of breath. Maybe she should quit smoking.

She ducked into the girls' locker room and got her stuff. She didn't even bother drying off. It was an unusually hot day in Rosewood and the water felt good on her skin. Summer was just about over, but it felt like the dead middle.

Emily pulled a cigarette out of her purse and lit it. She took a big hit and then put it right out. Why was she smoking? She had to be a good swim coach. Plus, her parents would smell it on her from a mile away, and despite everything, she really did care what her parents thought of her. So, with a heavy sigh, Emily got in her car and drove off to the direction of her parents house. Was that a dark cloud she saw looming over her head?

About fifteen minutes later, Emily pulled into her parents' driveway and turned off her car. She popped in three pieces of bubble gum and sprayed herself with an overwhelming amount of body spray.

Caroline came running outside. "Emily!" She pulled her little sister into a bear hug and swayed from side to side. Emily sunk into the hug. She missed her big sister. "How have you been?"

"Um, I've been really good." Emily lied.

"Oooh convincing." her sister teased. And she grabbed her hand and lead her to the way of the front door. Emily looked up just in time to see that dark cloud. Yep, it was definitely following her.

The house smelled like freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. A classic, but Emily took it all in. It really _was_ nice to be home. If only it were under better circumstances.

"Honey!" Mrs. Fields came out of the kitchen with her arms outstretched. "I missed you so much! It's been almost a year!"

"I know," Emily said sadly. Her mother was so happy to see her, why ruin it with bad news? Bad news could wait until later. Perhaps when her mom had had one, or seven, mimosas.

After all the "excitement" had died down, Emily pulled out her cell phone. She shot a quick text to someone she'd been really anxious to get together with since she got back. _Hey u. I'll be the memorial 9. Meet me? Xo_

A few minutes later, she got a returning text with just a winky face. So tonight was a go. Good, she needed to have some fun.

Emily nervously twirled her dark hair as she yes'd, no'd, ooohed, and ahhhed her way through dinner time small talk and watched the clock slowly move from one hour to the other. Finally, 8:40 rolled around and she kissed her mom goodbye.

She knew there would be many furious people if they knew who she was going to meet right now. One, or two, in particular. But, after a chance meeting in a record store a year ago, she just couldn't help herself. She did many unnecessary turns just in case someone was trying to follow her and drove halfway with her lights off. (that's what years of being stalked by a cyber freak will do to you). Finally, she arrived and saw a head full of brown hair sitting at the bench waiting for her. Butterflies welled in her stomach, and she took one more look around. Not a soul in sight. Good.

"Thanks for meeting me." Emily said seductively as the person on the bench turned to look at her.

"Of course," said the man on the bench. He grabbed her arms and pulled her into his lap hungrily as he kissed her hard against her lips. It had been too long since she'd seen him, they both felt the same way.

A few minutes later, they both came up for air, and Emily slid off his lap as heat crept up in her face. When they got together, their intensity embarrassed her. She just couldn't help herself.

He smiled at her and stroked her hair. "I'm so glad we finally get to see each other. I've missed you, Emily."

Emily ran her fingers through his hair, around his neck, and down his back hungrily. "I've missed you too, Wren."


	3. If it walks and quacks like a duck

**So this is a REALLY short chapter, and I'm sorry about that. I know that you guys probably won't like the Hanna story line right now, because I really don't, but there are some really juicy things coming this way. As of now, I don't know how long this story is going to be, but from the pace of it now, I'm sure it's probably going to be pretty long. And I already appreciate the hell out of the subscriptions and comments. I love to get FF emails! I'm going to set the stories with each of the girls first before A makes his/her very drama worthy entrance, of course. But rest assured, I WILL finish this and I hope to hell you guys will enjoy it. And of course, suggestions are welcomed with open arms. Thanks! xx**

CHAPTER THREE ~ If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck

Hanna Marin leaned against the cold iron gate of the balcony, clad in only a small blanket. She was watching the sunrise over the ocean, which you would think would make her feel happy, but instead she felt depressed. She looked back through the French doors perfectly framing a hotel bed. The man in that bed was not the one that should have been there. It made Hanna feel sick.

Hot tears formed in her eyes and spilled over. What was she doing? She loved Mike, she didn't love this guy. Sure, they'd hit a rough patch, but did he really deserve this? Did he? Just then, the man on the bed snored loud enough to wake himself up. It made Hanna's skin crawl, but she mustered up a fake smile and turned to look at him. "Good morning, you."

He just nodded his head in her general direction and got up to use the bathroom. When he was done he didn't flush, put the toilet seat down, or wash his hands. He came out onto the balcony and wrapped his surprisingly strong hands around her slender body and kissed the side of her shoulder working his way up her neck. She leaned as far as she could away from him, but he just moved closer.

"Jeremy, we need to talk." Hanna finally unlocked her jaw long enough to speak. Even the thought of him touching her made her want to jump out of her skin. But she had found herself in something she really didn't know how to get out of.

"No, we don't. You can find something better to do with your mouth. I know you can," he winked.

"No, we really need to talk. I don't…I can't do this anymore. It's not right, it doesn't feel right, it makes me physically and emotionally sick. And it's just not right."

"Need I remind you of the one who takes care of your financial problems? Or the one who has some questionable pictures of a certain someone in compromising positions? Or the one…well, hell you get the point. And besides," he thrust up her chin so she was looking him straight in the face, "you know you like it." He let go and went back to lay on the bed.

More tears fell from her face. How had one night of drunken stupidness lead her to this position? If she could take it all back she would. She was a train wreck. She couldn't even manage to not hurt the one person who cared about her the most. The one person who was always there for her no matter what.

If this was what the rest of her life was going to be like, why was she even born? Then, like an angel, she could clearly see Ali's face. The Ali she wished her Ali would have been. "Hanna, _you_ are in control of your own life. Don't blame the world for the crap you find yourself in today. Don't you remember? You're Hanna, and you're fabulous!"

Hanna just looked at the figment of her imagination. She could picture a thought bubble over her head like in one of those cartoons. She felt silly, but then again she was right. She _was_ Hanna, and she _was_ fabulous. There was no way in hell she was going to let some scumbag treat her like dirt. She was _not_ dirt, and she had a man who loved her, despite the problems they've been having. She took one look back at Jeremy on the bed, and he was already asleep. Hanna dropped her blanket, put her clothes on, and slammed the door on the way out.

Back at home, Mike didn't even question her about her late - well, early - arrival home. He had to have some idea. This had been going on for more than six months now. He didn't wrap his arms around her like he usually did, and she was okay with that. He shouldn't touch her. But she was going to make it right again. She didn't know who she was anymore, but she would find Hanna Marin once again. And when she did, no one would be able to stop her.


	4. Hastings Inn

**Okay, so I've had quite a bit of time on my hands today. Mostly, I just wanted to get Aria, Emily, Hanna, and Spencer all done before I started holding out on all the good stuff. But I don't want to give everything away for free. I'm not going to hold everything over your head, but I really would like some more reviews before I publish the next chapter. And since I'll make you all wait, I'll make the chapters longer now. None of that was the really juicy stuff, so hopefully the chapters will easily be longer than these. I just needed the girls to all get their things going. But I think I've already covered that. These are not in any way polished, I've probably read over them only once or twice, so I'm sorry if there are some very stupid mistakes within the chapters. Anyway, like I've said before, please don't hesitate with suggestions. Thanks for reading! xx**

CHAPTER FOUR ~ Hastings Inn

Spencer Hastings and her cat, Gremlin, stretched in unison on her favorite Egyptian cotton sheets. It was days like this that made Spencer wish that every day was a weekend. The sun was shining in through her French doors' windows, and although it looked swelteringly hot outside, it was a comfortable seventy-six degrees inside her three bedroom condo. Spencer was usually an early riser, but lately she'd been able to steal a few extra hours. And it definitely felt good.

Clad in her work out gear, Spencer made a beeline for the door and made her usually laps around the neighborhood. Running was calming, but at the same time it let in so many endorphins that Spencer thought she would burst. But after four miles, she knew she should call it quits, and headed back to the house. Inside, she knew that Melissa was already hard at work making her classic brunch. Brownies a la mode. Not. Just salad. Unfortunately.

The one bad thing about living with your entirely-too-health-conscious-older-sister, was that you had to put up with eating entirely-too-healthy-foods. But it was okay, Spencer had a secret hiding spot for her Oreos and Cheetos.

"Good morning, little sis. Enjoy your run?" Melissa tossed the salad, and poured a smidgen of oil for the "dressing", plopped it in a bowl, set it in front of Spencer, and beamed like she'd just put a bowl filled with billions of dollars in front of her sister's face.

"I did. I have to stay in shape if I want to make the field hockey team this year." Spencer took a bite of the salad. She tried to turn her grimace into a smile, but eating plain lettuce didn't really make _anyone _want to smile. Except her…well, we've been over this already.

"Hey, mom called earlier, she wanted to talk about something concerning one of your old friends, I think."

_Any reason to stop eating this rabbit food_, Spencer thought on her way to get her phone. She dialed those oh-so-familiar numbers and the phone rang three times before her mother answered. Good ole mom, can't seem like she's waiting by the phone, but can't seem like she's too lazy not to answer. It's the ring-to-answer ratio, haven't you heard?

"Spencer?"

"Hi, mom. I just got in. Melissa said you called?"

"Oh yes, I just wanted to know if you knew anything about Emily Fields being back in Rosewood. She's been here since last night, I thought maybe you were all going to get together for the…day…you know?"

"You can say anniversary, mom. And no, I didn't know anything about her being there. It'd be nice to see her…." Spencer trailed off, trying to remember how long it had been since she'd actually seen her friends. Hell, they'd been through _so much_ together, but that still couldn't seem to keep them together.

"Well, you're only about an hour away, why don't you and your sister drive home for a visit? I might even invite your dad over. We could have dinner and play Star Power." Spencer said nothing. "Kidding about the Star Power, dear."

"Oh…well, yeah, maybe. I'll have to talk to Mel-"

"I already talked to her, and she said it would be fine. So be home at five, okay? Love you." And without waiting for a response, she hung up the phone. So typical. Spencer didn't _want_ to be back in Rosewood. Why should she? It'd taken days upon months to finally be completely "A" free. They even had to deal with posers for a while. There was nothing for her in Rosewood except memories she buried with her so-called friend. And her sister. Whichever one was which.

"So, mom roped you into it, huh?" Melissa asked, a grin on her face.

Spencer threw a small piece of paper in her general direction, though it fluttered onto the floor, and laughed. "Yeah, well you were the last nail in the coffin. Guess we should go get ready, then?"

"I guess so. We're off to see the Rosewood, the horrible Rosewood of all!" Melissa sang, in a lame attempt at the Wizard of Oz song.

"That was stupid!" Spencer called after her sister. Jokingly, of course.

An hour later they were on their way to Rosewood. Unfortunately. There were a lot of ghosts and demons that Spencer had left, and she really wasn't looking forward to opening all those wounds again. But maybe she would see Emily, and that might be okay.

She decided to send a quick text to her old friend, to let her know she would be in town. _Hey Em! Long time no tlk. Heard u were in town & I wanted u to know that I was 2! Hope 2 see u! xxoo Spence_

She closed her phone and put her head back on the window. She became overwhelmed with nostalgia over her friends. Though one of the most terrible things imaginable had pulled them together, at least they were always there for each other. She decided to send a text to Aria and Hanna too. Maybe they could all be together in spirit, if they weren't all together in body.

_Hey guys. Been thinking about u all. Miss u. Txt me back whenever u get the chance. xxoo Spence_


	5. Fitz like a glove

**So I've been slacking with this chapter. I didn't know where to pick up with Aria's story. There wasn't much drama to begin with. Emily and Hanna are off to a good dramatic start, and I sent Spencer to Rosewood (you know, where Emily and Wren are?) so that would set that story up, but I was too caught up in the romance of Aria and Ezra. Oh, how I love them together! Anyway, as with anything else I write, the more I think about it, the worse it becomes, so I put my fingers to the keyboard and let the ideas flow. I do my best writing that way.**

**Oh and a special thank you to NinjaDinosaurGirl. She has reviewed every single chapter! And a response to something you said: I know that Spencer's story didn't have much drama to it, but I sent her to Rosewood where Emily and Wren are sneaking around. Can you guess where I'm going with that one? ;) **

**x**

CHAPTER FIVE ~ Fitz like a glove

Aria and Ezra sat in awkward silence. On more than one occasion, Aria had racked her brain to find something clever to say to mask the cloud hanging overhead that was almost unbearable sexual tension. Ezra coughed and Aria looked at him sideways. "This is silly! I feel like we're in high school again." Ezra grinned at her sheepishly, and Aria quickly backtracked. "Well, I mean, like _I'm_ in high school again."

Ezra traced circles around Aria's thigh, and it sent shivers all through her body. "I shouldn't have come on so strong like that, Aria, I'm sorry. It's just….it's like, well, I don't know! I feel almost like - now don't laugh at how corny I'm about to sound - but it feels like fate."

Aria giggled and squeezed his hand. "Maybe it was," she shrugged. "I've never thought twice about going into that book shop before, no matter how many times I've been down that strip. It was the rain - that came out of nowhere! - that forced me inside."

"Still maybe I should have waited to jump you like that." He paused and reconsidered. "Or wait…what am I saying? The first time I met you it didn't even take us that long!"

Aria blushed and covered her face with her hand. "God." They laughed together. "I seriously cannot believe I did that."

Ezra shrugged. "I liked it." They laughed some more, always aware of that tension.

Aria shoved him lightly on the arm. "I'm sure you did!" She mocked him. "Seriously though, what was your first thought when you saw me in class that first day?"

For a moment his eyes looked far away and Aria wondered if she should have said anything at all. But then he said, "Just two words. You know what they were?" Aria shook her head. "Oh. Shit."

"Yeah, same here." Aria giggled and squeezed his hand, this time she didn't let go. The atmosphere changed, and she took a turn into serious. "But now look at us. We can finally do what we wished to all that time. We're in public together. And we don't have to worry about a thing. We don't have to look behind our backs every five seconds to make sure no one sees us. And I don't have to worry about A." It was the first time she brought up 'A' in years. She really wasn't sure why she just did.

"Who's A?" Ezra asked curiously.

"You never heard? You didn't watch the news or read the paper or anything?" Ezra shook his head. Aria exhaled in disbelief. How did an English teach _not_ read the newspaper? Wasn't that like the first rule of being an English teacher? Reading? "A stalked my friends and me. They sent pictures of all of us caught in compromising conditions, sent us threatening text messages, tried to kill us, the list goes on and on." Seeing Ezra's face turn from confusion to disbelief, Aria added, "I know. It sounds like something you'd read in a book or see on a soap, but no, it really happened. I almost can't believe it myself. How do you think Sean knew about us?"

"So that whole time, you were dealing with a stalker?" Aria nodded. Ezra leaned back and put his head in his hands. "I was so selfish. I should have known that, I'm sorry." Aria just shook her head and kissed him on the cheek.

"Being with you made me forget. Made me forget everything bad." And with that, they kissed again. His mouth on her mouth, his body pressed against hers, she just couldn't take it anymore. She wanted to burst out of her skin. If gravity were not holding her down, she would have floated high above everything. Her heart felt as if it would explode. She was _exactly_ where she wanted to be. She pulled away from the kiss for a moment. "Do you…um…do you want to, maybe, um, go back to….my place?" Aria asked cautiously. Was it too soon? Maybe. Was it overdue? Definitely. Was there anything to lose? Only her heart. And since when had she had the whole thing, until right now? He made it whole, and if he left, he would only leave her with what she came with, and that would good enough for her.

Ezra nodded and grinned. "I was hoping you would say that. I didn't want to rush things, but damn, was I hoping you'd say that!" They walked hand and hand until they reached Aria's car. When they got in, they kissed again before putting the key in the ignition and starting on their way.

They arrived in a hip apartment complex. It was full of mostly students who went to the community college or Brown. Of course, most of the Brown students lived in dorms, but the cool ones lived in the complex. It had an old-style feel to it, while still being classic. It had ivy growing up the sides of the buildings that were closer to the woods. There were cracks in the stone building. It only added to the beauty. It was something you'd see in a painting. They were more like townhouses, each one having it's own yard and upstairs.

They walked by two buildings before turning in front of a big wooden door. Aria unlocked the bolt and they both walked inside. Ruby, Aria's husky greeted them happily at the door. It was almost as if she knew Ezra too.

Aria slid open her back door, and Ruby ran out to do her business and came running back in. Right into Ezra's lap. Aria watched on lovingly as Ezra and Ruby played tug of war. He'd won over her dog and her heart, all in one day.

"I _love_ this dog! You better keep a close watch on her, or I might just have to slip her out the door!" Ruby licked him good on the face, and he kissed her on the nose. Aria laughed. "Fat chance," she challenged.

Ezra looked up to smile at her again when something caught his eye. The smile disappeared from his face and a different look - not a bad one, though - crossed his face. She followed his gaze and it landed on a Shakespeare snow globe. A snow globe the love of her life gave her once upon a time. She shifted uncomfortably.

"You kept it?" His voice sounded almost as if he was in awe. Awe with a tinge of sadness.

"Of course. I loved it. It reminded me of you, and it helped me get through the bad stuff." Aria looked down at her feet. She unconsciously picked at a scab on her elbow.

Ezra got up from the floor and moved toward her, Ruby in tow. He took her hands and waited until she looked into his eyes. "_I _should have been there with you. And I'm so sorry." He pulled her in for a hug. She grabbed on to him tight. She always wished he would come back into her life and say those exact words. She'd given up hope years ago. "You're here now," she said. He lifted her chin up and softly kissed her on the lips. Then he looked her straight in the eyes, and that was all the confirmation she needed. He'd loved her too. And maybe he still did.

"Can I ask you something?" Aria asked. She was leaning her head against his shoulder as they slowly swayed back and forth. Ruby lay on the floor and watched them both with a big husky smile on her face. Ezra nodded into the side of her head. "Did you ever think about coming back?"

Ezra stayed quiet for a moment before speaking. He sighed sadly, as if remembering a sadder time in his life. He touched the sides of her face and looked into her eyes. "Only every second of every day," he whispered. "But I knew that I couldn't. I couldn't hurt you anymore. I wanted you to find someone else if you could. I wanted you to be _happy_ if you could. If I had known…"

"Shhh," Aria whispered, putting her finger to his lips. "You can't change the past. It's okay." She smiled at him solemnly, and kissed his nose, his cheek, and then resting on his lips. "It doesn't feel like we've missed anything."

He made a noise of contentment in the back of his throat. "No, we haven't." He hugged her tighter. "Not a single feeling I had about you has changed."

Aria just smiled into his shoulder. "I loved you, you know." She could feel his smile, and she matched it.

"I love you, too." Aria laughed once, and then looked at him again. This was real. This was really happening. She touched his face and traced his lips with her finger.

Just then Aria's phone started vibrating in her pocket, pulling them out of their trance. Ezra loosened his grip and began to chuckle. "Is that your phone, or are you just happy to see me?"

Aria shoved him lightly on the chest, and giggled. She dug her phone out of her pocket. It was a text message.

_Hey guys. Been thinking about u all. Miss u. Txt back whenever u get the chance. xxoo Spence_

Aria smiled and hit 'Reply'. She'd barely begun her response when another text message came. She exited and went into her inbox. She froze. The sender was from an unknown number. _This is silly_, she thought. _A is long gone. I'm just being paranoid._ She opened the text message.

_Oh Aria. Are you ever gonna learn? I may have been gone, but I'm never far away. In fact, I'm closer than you think. Did you miss me? What am I saying, of course you did. Keep in touch. Kisses -A_

Aria's phone fell from her hand. Not again, this couldn't be happening again! Her world began moving in fast forward and slow motion at the same time. Dizzy. She was dizzy. She blacked out before she even hit the floor.


	6. Sleaze and thank you

**So, I really liked how the last chapter turned out. I know that (as was mentioned by a reviewer) Aria and Ezra's relationship is no longer considered taboo, but I do have a couple of drama stories to choose from with them. All of which being very juicy. But right now, enjoy the romance people! ;) God knows it will take a back burner very, very soon. **

**And question: What do you all think of the Emily/Wren relationship? **

**Thank you to all the subscribers and reviewers (and I say that like I have a lot or something! Ha!) it really makes me want to write so much more when I see that you are enjoying them. I try to get a feel as to what you like to read about. So far I have DRAMA, DRAMA, DRAMA. It's okay, me too. If you have any suggestions please feel free to let them flow freely. Thanks! xx **

CHAPTER SIX ~ Sleaze and thank you

Emily's shirt was quickly being pulled over her head. Rough but gentle hands were making their way to the button on her jeans. And queue the 'awkward card'. Emily pushed him away. "You _know_ I won't do this here."

Wren looked at her sideways. He grunted and pulled her in for a hug while she retrieved her shirt from the ground and brushed it off before putting it back on. "Why?" He groaned.

Emily laughed. "Wren, seriously. I already feel bad enough!" Emily opened her purse and noticed her cell phone was blinking. The indication of one of five choices: text message, email, missed call, voice mail, or BBM. This one turned out to be a text. Who would be texting her? She gently pushed Wren out of the way as she sat straighter on the bench. A message from Spencer Hastings. Emily's heart stopped for a split second. She couldn't know. Could she? She decided to open the message and see.

_Hey Em! Long time no tlk. Heard u were in town & I wanted u to know that I was 2! Hope 2 see u! xxoo Spence_

Emily let out a looooooong sigh of relief. Wren blew on her neck slightly. When she didn't react the way she usually did, he sat up with her. "What are you looking at?" he asked in his irresistible accent of his.

"Spencer just sent me a text." Emily felt Wren loosen up his grip. She couldn't blame him. It was one thing to _talk _about Spencer, and how wrong they were acting. It was another to have her right there (almost).

"What did she have to say?" His voice was an octave higher than usual, although he tried his best to mask it.

"She said she's in Rosewood and she heard I was too. She wants to get together."

"Well, what are you going to say?"

"Well, obviously I'm going to go see her," Emily answered, a little irritated. God, it wasn't like they were still together. What was his issue?

He just nodded his head. The moment had passed, and now all Emily wanted to do was go back home and crawl into bed. Silent minutes passed with no sound or movement. "Well aren't you going to answer her?"

Emily rolled her eyes and began to type a response.

_Sounds great! Been too long. Missed u. Call me when u get the chance._

Emily shoved her phone back in her purse and gave Wren a quick peck on the cheek and began walking towards her car.

Wren grabbed her arm and turned her to face him. "What's the matter?"

Emily shook her head. "I don't know! I don't know. I'm just irritated and I'm definitely _not_ in the mood anymore." She shot a quick suggestive look at 'little Wren'.

He laughed. "Hmm." He looked down, as well. "Is that why you're irritated? From what I've heard 'little Wren' takes care of pent-up frustrations." He thrust out his chest and walked in a Sumo-wrestler type fashion toward Emily. She couldn't help but laugh. "You're a freak!"

He made his way toward her, trying not to laugh. When he did finally reach her he kissed her hard on the lips. Only to be interrupted by a big BOOM! "Thunder? Really?" Wren looked up at the sky in surrender.

"It did _not_ look like it was going to storm at all today. It's not even raining." Emily rolled her eyes. _Okay, Mother Nature. Can I at least _kiss_ him?_

"Looks like the Power isn't on our side today." Wren shrugged. "Well, I tried, little buddy," he said, and looked down at himself again.

"Ohmygod!" Emily laughed so hard tears began to fall from her eyes. Another roll of thunder boomed in their ears. Emily looked at the sky. "I don't see a single cloud, and still no sign of rain."

"Well that doesn't mean it's not coming. The rain is kinda sexy, though, don't you think?" Wren made his best impression of a cat's purr, but fell flat. They were both sent into a new fit of giggles.

The inevitable rain finally fell from the sky. Light at first, and then harder. They were soaked in a matter of seconds. "You're right, I'm totally sexy right now. Drenched and deflated are _so_ in right now."

"And you're the best of the best," Wren purred, pulling Emily into a hug. He pushed her face to his, and slowly kissed her. It was passionate. It was different. Emily liked it. She wrapped her arms around his neck and threw herself into the kiss.

Just then a big flash of light illuminated the scene, but only for a moment. As soon as they opened their eyes, it was gone. "Lightening?" Emily asked.

Wren nodded his head. "Unfortunately." He placed his hand on her back and walked her back to her car. He kissed her lips once more before she closed her door. She watched him walk back to his car before she started it up. She wanted to make sure he was safely inside his before she left.

She turned the key and her car hummed to life. Her phone buzzed in her purse. It was a text message. "Spence," she said aloud. But there was no number. Only the name _Unknown_. Emily's eyebrows pulled together. Unknown? She hadn't had an 'Unknown' message since…

Her greatest fears were confirmed as she opened the message.

_Hey Em! I know you were busy sucking face with your bestie's exie, but I thought it would be nice to drop you a line and let you know I'm always here if you need to talk. Unless your mouth has prior arrangements. –A_

Before Emily had a chance to respond, her phone buzzed again. This time it was a picture message. Breathing heavy, she opened the message. It was a picture of a very wet Emily and a very wet Wren, just moments ago. A had caught the kiss. The lightening. It was no lightening at all. She quickly pushed the locks on her car doors. Whoever this person was, they were here. Someone had followed her here.

She looked back at the picture, and realized there was another message underneath.

_Tisk, tisk, tisk. You should know by now that I'm always watching. –A _


	7. I'm Hanna and I'm fabulous

**NinjaDinosaurGirl, to answer your question, I'm just going to copy and paste a small excerpt from Chapter Two: **_She knew there would be many furious people if they knew who she was going to meet right now. One, or two, in particular. __But, after a chance meeting in a record store a year ago, she just couldn't help herself__._** I hope that answers your question. I know I didn't spend much time on it, and I can see how you would forget it. Happy to help! **

**Anyway, enjoy. And if you have any questions, comments, or concerns please don't hesitate to post a quick comment or send me a message. Thanks for reading, guys. I don't have much access to a computer this week, but I'll try to post a chapter a day. They won't be extremely long chapters, but they'll still be up once a day. Hopefully. Thanks! xx **

CHAPTER SEVEN ~ I'm Hanna and I'm fabulous

The blaring alarm woke Hanna from her sleep. She sleepily turned over to press the snooze button, but was stopped mid-roll to another body in her bed. Hanna opened one eye, then the other. It was Mike. He was looking through her eyes, almost into her soul it seemed.

She couldn't look at him. She didn't feel like she deserved to. He brushed hair out of her face. "Hanna," he breathed.

She looked at him again. He was smiling. "Good morning," she whispered. "I didn't expect you to still be in bed."

"Play hookey," he grinned. He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. "I thought maybe we could talk about some things."

Hanna's heart skipped a beat while she studied his face. He didn't _look_ mad. "Okay…" Hanna said slowly. His expression didn't waver. His face gave away nothing. "About what?"

"Why don't I make you some breakfast first?" He tapped her nose once and rolled out of bed. She watched him walk out the doorway before she made a move to get up. Her stomach was upset. She felt the familiar bubble in her throat. _No! There is _no_ way I'm going to do this again. I can beat this. I can beat this._ Hanna thought to herself. She tried to swallow it, but it just wouldn't go down. Her stomach made a gurgle and she ran to the bathroom.

Afterwards, she wiped her mouth and rinsed with mouthwash. It almost felt good to relieve her stress that way again. It was familiar. "Hanna?" She heard Mike call from the kitchen.

She quickly made her way to the kitchen. "Right here," she said in his ear. He turned around and smiled. "How about omelets?"

She nodded her head once. "Sounds good."

She watched him flip the eggs around the frying pan, from time to time he would sneak a glance her way. But they weren't glares. Hanna's stomach made a little noise. She was nervous about this 'talk'. But he was a straight shooter. If something was bothering him, he wouldn't put on a big charade and make it seem like everything was okay before letting the lions loose. Right?

"Okay, all done," Mike said as he slid the omelets from the pan to their plates. "Ketchup?" Hanna just shook her head 'no'. Depending on the situation, she may not even have the omelet in her system long.

Hanna pushed her omelet around her plate. She didn't want to eat it, but she was hungry. Mike noticed this and asked, "What's wrong?"

Hanna shook her head before looking up at him. "Nothing. What did you want to talk about?"

"I wanted to apologize."

"For what?" Hanna asked incredulously. If _anyone_ should be apologizing, it should be _her_.

"I know that we've been having a rough patch, and I know that a big part of that has to do with me. So I wanted to take a day off to spend with you because I feel like we don't even know each other anymore."

Hanna felt sick to her stomach. He thought that most of their problems were because of _him_. Maybe they'd started with him, or that's what she told herself, but she definitely didn't make them any better.

"Mike, you don't really think this _your_ fault, do you? I mean, I didn't make it any better!"

He looked at her for a moment. "Hanna, I didn't go to college because I was offered a job at Hollis. I've barely been around. That has to count for _something_."

Hanna's eyes started to fill up with tears. "It's not you," she whispered.

Mike walked over to where Hanna was sitting and pulled her into a big hug. She just let herself cry. Mike whispered "shhhhh," into her ear and just held her for a while.

It was a long time before either of them spoke. "I promise I'm going to try to be home more and make it a point to spend more time together. I love you, Hanna. We just have to remember why we fell in love in the first place. For me, it was your ass."

Hanna looked up and caught a glimpse of the old Mike. It made her happy to see him again, she'd missed that side of him. "Yeah, I guess I liked you for your dry sense of humor. Or maybe your skidded boxers."

They both laughed, remembering the time when someone had started a rumor that Mike wore underwear with skids in them. They were interrupted by the mail slot opening and a quiet thud of mail hitting the floor. "I'll get it," Hanna said. She made her way to the front door and picked up the mail. Bills, bills, junk, bills, coupons…and a personal letter. It didn't have a stamp, so it couldn't have gone through the post office. It was just placed through their mail slot.

She turned it over. It was addressed to Mike from **A** CONCERNED CITIZEN. Hanna walked down the hallway to give Mike the letter, until she looked at it again. Why was A bold? A. And then it hit her. She ran into the bathroom to read the letter. Sure enough, her fears were confirmed.

_Mike,_

_Your girlfriend is a whore. Don't believe me? Call 'Jeremy' and ask him. Do I have a reason to lie? I'm only worried about you. _

_PS In case you're reading this, Hanna, no secret is a secret for long. _

_-__**A **__concerned citizen_

Hanna ripped the paper to shreds while tears fell violently from her face. So A was back. And who the hell were they this time? Hadn't she gone through enough? She'd get to the bottom of A and stop him or her before they had the chance to ruin what she had with Mike. They had just wiped the slate clean, and there was _no way_ an A imposter would stop that. No matter how well they portrayed A. After all, she was Hanna and she was fabulous. 


	8. How to be a Hastings

**So it's been brought to my attention by NinjaDinosaurGirl that people like being mentioned by name. So I'd like to take a quick second to personally thank each one of you who has read and reviewed. CatchHellBlues, thank you for being the very first person EVER to review my story. That was the first time that I ever realized just how much I loved getting FF review emails. NinjaDinosaurGirl, quite possibly the biggest fan of them all, I'm glad that it makes you feel good that I personally address you in my ANs. I appreciate every review you give me, and honestly, the second I post a new chapter I wonder how long it will be until I get to read your opinion. What you all say really matters to me. PACDance4Ever, thank you for reading and reviewing! Hopefully I see you again soon on my review page. Panda1222, your first review made me come up with an even better Aria/Ezra story than I had in mind because you made me wonder how I could make it just as scandalous – if not more – than the relationship between them in high school. I really appreciate your comments. Haleyscott305, I really like how you just totally get immersed in the story. I wish I knew why A did the things he/she did too! Guess we'll have to wait and see! And I think I've covered you all. I'm sorry for the longer-than-usual author's note, but I felt it was necessary.**

**Hey, if any of you are on twitter, you can send me some ideas right to my page. Follow me at /jamiehaize . Happy reading! xx **

CHAPTER EIGHT ~ How to be a Hastings

It'd been almost a day since Spencer had sent text messages to her old best friends, and only Emily had sent her one back. Of course her first response was to panic, but when she realized she wasn't in high school anymore, and there was no longer an A, which eliminates the risk of murder-for-no-reason. She figured there was a more practical answer. Perhaps Aria and Noel had gotten back together, for the twelfth time. And maybe Hanna had a glamorous internship at a fancy magazine. Or maybe she was even a model for one. Goes to show you how long it'd been since they'd spoken.

Spencer paced back and forth in her mother's living room. To resend or not to resend, that was the question. Spencer played out the pros and cons in her mind. You could take the girl out of kindergarten, but you just couldn't take the kindergarten out of the girl. Realizing that sending a duplicate message almost a day later actually didn't sound so crazy, Spencer sifted through her outgoing texts and pushed the resend button to both Aria and Hanna. Perhaps they just hadn't gotten it the first time.

Melissa came bounding into the living room, unusually chipper. "So you got bit by the Happy Bug or something?"

"Or something," Melissa smiled deviously. A secret danced across her lips. But having been around Melissa her whole life, Spencer knew that secretly Melissa was bursting at the seams just waiting for Spencer to ask her just what that 'or something' is. Spencer decided to play along.

"And what might that be?"

Spencer was right; Melissa took the bait without even stopping to think about it. "Well, you know that I don't have much luck with guys. My only two serious relationships both ended in disaster. I mean, my fiancé cheated on me with…well, you know that story," Melissa paused and shot a quick glance toward Spencer. She hadn't meant to slip that out. "And well, the other one…you know how that one went too." Spencer nodded her head. "Anyway, remember when I left last night?" Spencer nodded again. "Well, I went to Blockbuster. I mean, I love mom and everything, but she can be a little…overbearing."

Spencer had to laugh at that one. Her mom and Melissa were like twins separated at birth, minus quite a few years. Or add them. Whichever way you were looking at it. Melissa glared at her in that ha-ha-you're-so-funny-NOT kind of way and began speaking again. "So, I just went for a drive and wound up at Blockbuster. I just grabbed something from the romance section, I mean you really can't go wrong with a romance movie, and I got this!" She pulled the movie from behind her back and presented it to Spencer like it was a pot of gold.

"_The Notebook_. …Cool? So you're dating Ryan Gosling or something?"

"No, stupid. The guy behind the counter was checking me out, right? And at first, I thought it was kind of weird, but then I just noticed how gorgeous he was and we exchanged numbers!"

Spencer waited for her to finish. Surely, there was a better punch line. But when her sister just stood there smiling expectantly, Spencer decided to humor her. "Oh…well, good!"

"I know! We're going out tonight." Spencer shot her sister a thumbs-up as Melissa turned to leave. She stopped in her tracks and turned. "Don't try to kiss this one, okay?" She didn't wait for a response before turning around again and making her way upstairs.

Spencer just rolled her eyes. Melissa was never going to let that go, no matter how many evil twins Ali had that tried to kill them. She couldn't really blame her, she guessed. She would probably be furious if her sister kissed not one, but _two_ of her ex boyfriends. Both of which being the only two serious relationships she'd ever had.

Spencer's phone vibrated in her hand. She flipped it open. It was from Hanna. She smiled.

_SOS!_ was all it said. Spencer's face fell and worry lines crinkled her usually perfect skin. She tried to call Hanna but it promptly went to voicemail. She decided to leave a message. "Hanna, you _cannot_ just send a message like 'SOS' and just expect me to not call. You should answer the phone!"

A few minutes later, her phone vibrated again. She quickly opened it, expecting an explanation text from Hanna. What she got was way worse.

_Spencer: define backstabbing. Wait, why not just ask Emily? I'm sure she knows all about that one. Happy hunting. –A _

_Oh, and in case you're wondering, yes, I'm back. And with enough dirt to bury every single one of you. For good. _

Spencer closed her phone, and opened it again. Hoping that message was just a figment of her imagination. It wasn't. That wasn't possible! Another A? Sure, there had been imposters over the years, some that were chilling-to-the-bone creepy, but this one sounded legit. This one sounded like original. How many freaking psycho sisters did Alison have, anyway?


	9. A haunting in Providence

**Softballgirl05, I can neither confirm nor deny if Andrew Campbell will make an appearance to this story. But, hey, thanks for the review! And PACDancer4Ever, thanks for the review! You don't have to explain yourself; I hope you enjoyed your vacation! This week I don't have a computer until 4:30, so maybe once I get my computer back and not have to borrow one then I'll have multiple chapters uploaded on one day from time to time. From the pace of the story now, I'd say you are in for a long ride. You okay with that? **

**Anyway, seriously, I LOVE twitter, and I'm on it all the time because I have an app on my phone, so you can follow me at /jamiehaize (hint, hint). Thanks again for the reviews. And NinjaDinosaurGirl, at least I'm not the only one who waits for those FF emails ;) Take care. xx**

CHAPTER NINE ~ A haunting in Providence

Aria opened her eyes, slightly confused. She was in her room. For a moment she couldn't understand why, and then everything rushed back to her at once. Her head spun. So A was back. Figures, right? I mean, why on _earth_ would she be allowed to be happy? A movement beside her caused her to jump. She quickly looked down only to see Ezra sitting beside her. He was sleeping sitting up. She smiled at him. He'd stayed to make sure she was okay.

He stirred and looked at her sleepily. By the look on his face, he wasn't expecting her to be awake yet. "Aria!" He jumped up and made his way to the other side of the bed. "Are you okay?"

She nodded and smiled at him weakly.

"What in the world happened to you? I mean, one minute we're laughing and joking and the next thing I know, you're on the floor and you wouldn't wake up for _anything_."

Aria grabbed a strand of hair and flicked at the ends. Should she say something? Would he think she was overreacting or that she just had too much drama? She decided to try it out. "I got a text message. From A."

He processed the information slowly. "Wait. A as in the person who stalked you and your friends in high school? Are you sure?"

Aria nodded her head and fished around her bedside table for her phone. She opened it up and showed him the message. His face slowly registered shock before he put the phone down and sat next to her on the bed. "Maybe it's just a hoax. A very elaborate, sick joke."

Aria shook her head. She'd gotten messages from people claiming to be A for years. None of them ever really made her gut flip inside out like this message had. Somehow, she just _knew_ that there was a new A in town. And they were out for blood.

Ezra put his arms around her slender body. "It'll be different this time."

Aria looked up at him questioningly. "And how is that?"

He leaned in and quickly kissed her lips. He leaned in to her ear and whispered, "Because now I'm here. And I'm not planning on going anywhere."

Aria's heart swelled. A thought that she would ruin everything, but there wasn't anything to ruin. (A _had_ to be a girl, right?) Aria wasn't keeping a secret that would tear her family apart. She wasn't dating her high school English teacher. Well, she kind of was, but he wasn't her teacher anymore. What could A possibly have to do with her? "I'm so glad you're here with me."

Ezra pulled Aria in for a hug and they just sat there for a while. Aria's phone vibrated on the table. She stiffened, and she could tell Ezra had too. Aria checked the message. It was just a duplicate message sent from Spencer. That was when she noticed the time on her phone. "I was out for almost a whole day?"

Ezra nodded. "And I didn't stop worrying the whole time. Don't do that to me again."

"Can't make any promises," Aria laughed, but then she became serious. "Seriously, Ezra, if A is back in the picture that means things can turn ugly in a second. She has a way of twisting things to make them seem different than they really are. We're going to have to stick together."

"I think I can handle that. Now that I have you again, there is no way that I'm going to let you get away." Ezra looked around the room theatrically. "Do you hear that A? I'm not going anywhere! So bring it on!" he yelled to the room. They both laughed.

Aria decided she should probably send a message back to Spencer before she sent the SWAT team after her.

_Spence, got ur msg yesterday, along w/ one from A! tell me I'm not the only one!_

Ezra leaned in close to Aria and she threw her phone to the side. Just before his lips met hers, Ruby jumped on the bed and licked Ezra on the face. "Well, that's not the kiss I was looking for, but okay."

"I think she needs to go outside," Aria said, already getting off the bed and walking towards the door. "You need to go potty, Ruby?"

Ruby wagged her tail and barked in response and Aria opened the door for her. She slid the door closed and turned around to find Ezra on her heels. She threw her arms around his neck dramatically and kissed him on each cheek and then once on the lips. "You come here often?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

He leaned in and kissed her. "I hope so."

Their moment was once again interrupted by Ruby, but this time Aria heard her dog scream. She threw open the door and ran outside. Ruby was running towards Aria faster than she'd ever seen her poor dog run before.

"Come here, baby. It's okay. Shh. It's okay. What happened?" Aria cooed to Ruby.

Ruby plopped into Aria's lap and looked towards the woods. She let out a low growl and Aria nervously stood up and called her dog into the house.

"What happened?" Ezra asked, looking over Ruby as she walked in slowly. Her hair was raised all the way down her back.

"I don't know. But there has to be something out there." Aria shook her head towards the woods. What could possibly be out there?

_I'm closer than you think, _A had said.

Could A have seriously followed her here and terrorized her dog? She reached down and patted Ruby and felt a piece of paper attached to her collar. She pulled it off and unfolded it.

_Aria,_

_Do you realize that sleeping with the teacher no longer gets you the grade? If it's an A you're looking for, look no further than your backyard. –A _

"You _have_ to be kidding me!" Aria shrieked while Ezra read the note over her shoulder. His head shot up as he looked towards the woods. "They attacked my dog! I'm not even safe in my own house." Tears started to form in her eyes.

"I can stay here with you if you want."

"Are you sure? I wouldn't ask you to do that, I know we haven't seen each other in years."

"Aria, don't be silly. Of course I wouldn't mind. I want you to feel safe. Or you could stay at my place."

"No, A would just follow us there. But you really wouldn't mind staying here?" Aria looked up at Ezra and searched his face. He looked serious. She didn't want to feel like she couldn't take care of herself, but having a man around the house wouldn't be bad. She'd have her dog and her man.

"Aria, no," he insisted. He hugged her tight and she'd never felt safer. She tried to concentrate on Ezra's steady breathing and his heart, but all she could think of was who A could possibly be this time. And for the first time, she had absolutely _no_ idea.


	10. Come again, Wren

**NinjaDinosaurGirl, when I first started this story, I wasn't sure who A was going to be, but now I have a person and a motive that I think will shock everyone. At least I hope it will. I'm trying to get things moving a little faster, but the beginning chapters are very important since they set the core foundation of the story. Pretty soon, you'll see them all together and more people will come into the story and of course more drama! But I only got one review for my last chapter, I thought everyone liked Aria/Ezra? Was it not a very good chapter? lol. **

CHAPTER TEN ~ Come again, Wren

Emily lay in her bed going over all that had happened the night before. So A was back. And she'd followed her and taken a picture of her doing something that no one was supposed to know about. And now that A had the evidence, she was pretty sure everyone was already clued in.

Emily pulled her pillow over her head. She wished it would turn into a rock that she could just crawl under and never come back out. What had she done in life to deserve this? Sure, she'd lied a couple times, kept a few secrets, and dated a girl, but did that all equal up to being stalked by a psycho out for blood? Axe murderers didn't even have stuff like this happen to them.

Her phone buzzed on her side table. She didn't move. She wanted to sink into her bed and fall into an alternate reality. The reality where A didn't exist, where she was still in college, in love with someone she could be seen in public with, and where she'd never let her parents down. Her phone buzzed again. She groaned and picked it up. Spencer had called her twice. She had to know.

Slowly, Emily dialed Spencer's number, trying to think of clever excuses to explain the picture. _It's not what you think, Spencer. _Spencer answered on the second ring. "Emily?"

"Yeah," Emily gulped.

"I have to talk to you."

"Um, okay. What about?" She decided to play dumb.

"Have you…have you gotten any messages from A?"

Emily was quiet for a moment. Was this a trick? But she knew Spencer, Spencer wouldn't do something like that. She was a straight shooter. She wouldn't beat around the bush. "I did," Emily whispered.

"I was afraid of that. I got one and I got a text from Aria saying she got one, too. You think it's legit?"

Emily nodded into the phone. "Yeah, I definitely think it's legit."

"Yeah, I thought so too. I was so hoping it wasn't true. Hey, I'm going to go down to the diner today. Meet me?"

Emily sighed silently. "Okay." She closed her phone, set it down on the table and pulled the pillow on top of her head. Spencer had no idea, and somehow that seemed worse.

A few hours later, Emily was on her way to meet Spencer and talk about their new A situation. Emily drove to the diner in a daze, when she had pulled up to the place, she'd barely even remembered getting there. Spencer was waiting outside the diner looking around anxiously. Emily took as long as she could turning off her car and getting out.

Spencer's face lit up with recognition when she spotted Emily. She waved, "Over here!"

They went inside and barely looked over the menu. The waitress came over. "Hey, girls. My name is Wendy, I'll be your server. Can I get you anything to drink to start off with?"

"Just water. For both of us?" Spencer asked Emily sitting across from her. She nodded. "Two waters, please."

The waitress nodded, jotted their orders quickly on her pad, and walked away. Spencer turned to Emily. "So what are we going to do?"

Emily thought about it for a moment, but couldn't come up with a single thing. "I have no idea. We don't have anywhere to start. It's not like we can walk down the halls of Rosewood Day and try to track the stalker. We enter a whole new playing field outside of high school."

Spencer nodded her head slowly. "I know. But why now? All of the stuff with Alison has been long over. It's just so random."

Wendy came with their waters and smiled at them expectantly. "Are you ready to order yet?"

"Uh, just bread or something please?" Spencer asked.

"You want the bread basket? It comes with bottomless soup."

"Yeah, sure, we'll take that." Spencer tried to wave her off.

"We have minestrone, chicken and rice, beef stew, and chicken and dumplings."

"The first one." Spencer looked up at her and smiled quickly. "Thanks."

Wendy just nodded and walked around quickly.

"Okay. So where do we even start?" Emily asked, worry lines forming on her face.

Spencer thought about it for a moment. Then, her eyes lit up and a slow smile spread across her face. "That's it."

"What's it?" Emily was obviously missing something.

"We start with people we _knew_ in high school. I mean, why would someone outside of our class want to do something like this? And why now? There has to be some kind of connection. Maybe someone pissed off the wrong person. Am I even making sense?"

"Actually, you are. I can name a few people who I didn't end high school with on good terms. Ben, for one."

"Exes seem like a good place to start. Let me call Aria." Spencer pulled out her phone. Before she even flipped it open and chimed.

They looked at each other. "Well…see who it is," Emily urged her.

Spencer opened her phone, and Emily saw a flash of familiarity cross Spencer's face. A flash of fear. She knew who it was. "What does it say?"

"I see I've rekindled an old friendship. Can you pass me a napkin? They are just to your left, Spencer. –A." Spencer looked to her left, and sure enough, there was a shiny napkin box. They both looked around the restaurant nervously. A had been there, possibly walked right past them, and they hadn't even noticed. A was right under their noses, and they didn't even smell her.


	11. Home is where your mom is

**I know that it's been awhile since I last updated. There are a few reasons for that. One, reviews are really the ONLY things that keep me going. I already know how this is going to end, I don't need to spend time writing something that no one reads when I could turn around and spend that time wisely. Like preparing for my marathon. When I don't really get ANY on something I've spent time on and thought about, it's extremely discouraging. I don't want to be one of those that holds a chapter over your heads for reviews, I want you to review because you WANT to. But still, reviews really boost the confidence in my story and make me want to publish another chapter as fast as I can. And two, I've been having a little trouble knowing where to start and getting this story off to a steady dramatic pace. That's the least of my worries because all of my ideas come to me when I'm sitting in front of my computer trying to write something. I appreciate the ONE person that commented on my newest chapter. Thanks.**

CHAPTER ELEVEN ~ Home is where your mom is

Hanna quickly pushed the ignore button on Spencer's call. She didn't want to talk, Mike could hear her. She didn't want to risk that. She slid into a corner in her bathroom and hugged her knees to her chest. Why was this happening? Couldn't she deal with this quietly? Mike would never have to know. But A knew. So everyone was bound to find out.

Tears began filled Hanna's eyes and spilled over in hot streams down her cheeks. She couldn't sort through everything that was going through her mind. She could tell Mike herself, that might give her points for something, right? She could tell him today, but he'd taken the whole day off to be together. She could tell him tomorrow, but he'd be mad that they'd worked everything out only to have the carpet pulled out from underneath him. Would he leave her? Would he hate her? Would he want to get even? She didn't want to deal with this.

"Hanna?" Mike knocked on the door.

Hanna stood up and wiped her eyes, checking herself in the mirror to make sure it didn't look like she'd been crying. Her nose was tipped with red and her eyes were a little swollen and puffy. Pull the Band-Aid off now or wait?

"Coming. Give me one second." Hanna turned on the faucet and splashed some cold water on her face. She patted herself dry with a hand towel and snuck one last look at herself in the mirror before turning off the light and meeting Mike in the hallway.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. For a second I felt like I might throw up, but I'm okay now." Mike smiled at her and began to lead the way back into the kitchen. Now didn't seem like a very good time.

Hanna's phone vibrated in her hand again. She groaned until she saw MOM flashing on the caller ID. "Mom?"

"Hanna, how are you?"

"I'm great! It's so good to hear your voice!" Hanna smiled into the phone. She hadn't spoken to her mom since before she had left for Africa for a Women For Change trip to help build a stronger community in a quickly-dwindling African tribe.

"I know, sweetie. It's been - what? - four months?"

"At least!" Hanna walked into the kitchen. Mike smiled at her brightly lit face, and made his way into another room. He came back with his phone in his hand and was typing a message to someone. "So you're back now?"

"Actually, yes. I am on my way back from the airport now. You know how airline food is, so I was wondering if you wanted to grab something to eat."

Hanna shot a glance toward Mike. He was washing the dishes and whistling a tune she'd never heard before. He'd taken the day off to spend with her. What kind of message was she sending if she left _him_. But it was her _mom_. Her mom, whom she hadn't seen in months. Surely, he'd understand. "Of course. I love you." Hanna hung up the phone and slowly turned to Mike. "So…Mike."

"I'm already ahead of you. I just sent Noel a text and asked him if he wanted to play some lacrosse."

"You really don't mind?" Hanna asked him incredulously.

"Of course not. I live here. Your mom just got home from being gone for months. Obviously you are going to want to see her. I told you, I want to start spending more time together. Today was just a first of many. Now go. I don't want to be late," he tapped Hanna on the butt and walked out of the kitchen.

Hanna was left in the middle of the floor smiling. Mike didn't have to find out. She could take care of it. And now she had her mom who would help her. She ran upstairs to throw on some clothes and ran a brush quickly through her hair. She slapped on a little eyeliner and headed out the door. Mike had already left. She climbed into her car and headed to her old house.

When she pulled into the driveway, she was hit with the stench of nostalgia. She missed her mom. She missed living in this house. She missed when things were simple. But they weren't simple, were they?

Her mom's cab pulled in right behind her and Hanna was shaken out of her thoughts. She ran to the car before it even stopped moving. "Mom!"

Ashley Marin flung the door open and pulled her daughter into a bear hug. "Honey, it's been too long."

"Tell me about it! How was Africa?"

Ashley held up her finger, paid the taxi driver and removed her suit cases and belongings from the trunk. The driver sped off and they stood there in silence for a few moments. "So are you going to tell me what's bothering you?"

Hanna looked at her mom sideways. "How do you know something's wrong?"

"Because I'm your mother. It's my job to know."

Hanna just shook her head and grabbed one of her mom's suitcases and drug it to the door. "Problems with Mike?"

Hanna shook her head. "No. Well, kind of."

"So tell me about it." The keys jangled in the doorway as Ashley unlocked the door and swung it open. It looked the same as she'd left it. The more things changed the more they stayed the same.

They made their way to the couch after all the suit cases were unpacked and Hanna told her mother everything. She told her about Mike, about Jeremy, about A, about everything. "I don't know how to make it stop, mom. I wish it would just go away, but it won't. I don't want to keep lying, but I don't want to hurt him, either. We're finally getting to a good place."

"We should go to the police." Hanna shook her head and began to protest. "Listen to me, at least they'll have your complaint on record. Maybe they'll be able to catch this one before she has a chance to ruin everything this time."

"Because that worked so well last time!"

"There are ways around everything, Han. This is a serious problem, and it needs a serious solution. At least write a report."

Hanna shook her head. "No. I'm dealing with it, one false move and A could ruin everything. Going to the police sounds like a pretty big false move."

Ashley sighed. "I really wish you would go to the police. And I wish that you would let me help you. Do you want to stay here tonight?"

Hanna smiled at her mom and hugged her tightly again. "There's nowhere else I'd rather be."

A shadow moved across the window, going unseen by both Hanna and Ashley. A snicker, which was not heard, echoed loudly through Rosewood. And for some unknown reason, Hanna's arm broke out into goosebumps.


	12. In times of trouble

**I've been having a hard time finding inspiration with this chapter. I don't know why because Aria is my favorite to write. Plus, I've had so much on my plate. My poor puppy broke his leg and had to get surgery. It's a full time job in itself to try and keep him quiet. I apologize to anyone who's become frustrated with me for not updating as often as I used to. I'm not giving up on you, so don't give up on me. This chapter hopefully jet-sets everything into fast motion and the kind of suspense and drama we've come to love in the PLL series. **

CHAPTER TWELVE ~ In times of trouble

The moment Ezra had said he would stay, Aria's house just felt brighter. It felt bigger, but smaller. It felt cozier. It felt safer. But it was always in the back of her mind that A had been right outside in her backyard. A had touched and possibly _hurt_ her dog. She felt as safe as she could. She hoped it was safe enough.

All three of them sat on the couch watching a movie. Aria sat in the middle between her two protectors, with one arm around Ruby and Ezra's arm around her. They were all connected. Almost like a family. Ezra snuck glances at her through the corner of her eye. Not only were they the cute hope-she-doesn't-see-me glances, they were also the I'll-do-anything-to-protect-her glances. Aria felt warm. She snuggled in a little closer to Ezra and was thrilled when he did the same.

She traced a small line of hair on her legs that she'd missed and tried to pay attention the movie on the television. Her mind was in so many places at once, that when her phone rang, she didn't even hear it.

"Aria, you're phone." Ezra eyed the phone cautiously. He was worried too.

Aria looked up at him, dazed for a moment. "Oh. Right." She slowly leaned forward and clutched the cold phone in her hands. She didn't even want to look at the caller ID. But when she finally did, she let out a breath. It was just Emily. "Hey, Em."

"Listen, Aria. I don't really have time, but I need you to tell me any of the people you might have pissed off in high school." Emily sounded panicked and just a bit out of breath.

"A got to you, too?"

"Yeah. Whoever she is, she followed me somewhere and even took a picture of me when I thought no one was around."

"That can't be possible," Aria whispered, almost to herself.

"What? Why can't that be possible?" Aria could hear someone else asking 'what? What is she saying?' on the other end.

"Where are you, Emily?"

"Rosewood. Why?"

"Is that Spencer with you?"

"Yes. Aria, what-" Emily sounded annoyed.

"Let me talk to her," she cut her off.

Emily grumbled and Spencer's voice quickly appeared on the other line. "What is it, Aria?"

"A was _here_. In Rhode Island. Just a few hours ago."

They were both quiet for a moment before Spencer said, "so there's more than one." It was a sad realization. This was way more serious now that there were multiple players in this game. Four against one hadn't even proved to withstand _one_ person, let alone more than one.

Aria felt tears begin to well in her eyes. The realization that this was way more dangerous than she could have imagined, and that she'd brought Ezra into the middle of it, made her want to just crawl into the center of the world. She peeked up at Ezra who was looking at her anxiously, trying to read her face. His forehead was lined with worry wrinkles. She'd done that to him. Had it not been for her, he would be perfectly happy in his stupid little bookshop. She wanted to kick herself.

"Aria?"

"I'm here," Aria whispered into the phone. Ezra placed his hand on her back and began to trace little circles. He intended to calm her down and make her feel safe, but it only made her feel worse.

"Is there any way you could come home for a little while? Hanna and Emily are in town. I think if we're going to beat whoever this is, we're going to need to be together."

Aria glanced quickly around her room. Suddenly, nothing felt like hers. Everything looked as if it were all attached to a long string that at any moment could be pulled away and take away everything in her life. The string was making it's way to Ezra. "Give me a couple of hours. I'll be there before tomorrow morning." Aria closed her phone and flung it across the room.

"So what's going on?"

"There's more than one person doing it this time. We are all going to get together and try to beat this thing. Hopefully, once and for all."

"So when are we leaving?"

"We're not." Aria turned to look him right in the face. He was confused. "_I_ am. You're not." Before he began to protest, Aria continued. "I brought you into this. I put you in danger. If it weren't for me, you would be at work, or in your apartment completely and blissfully oblivious. I selfishly allowed you to become involved, but if you got _hurt_ because of me, I would never be able to forgive myself."

"Good thing you can't tell me what to do then, right?" Ezra smiled slightly. It didn't reach his eyes. To some degree, he must know she's right.

Tears fell from her eyes, as she reached up to touch his face. "Please," she whispered.

His navy blue eyes met her in sadness. They matched. Both sad. Both trying to protect the other. Both failing. "Just let me do _something._ I left you defenseless once. To hell if I do it again."

"Stay here. Take care of Ruby for me. Just, please, don't follow me. And don't stay in this apartment."

She could tell he wanted to protest, but he said nothing as she rose to pack her things. She glanced back at him once before she started up the stairs and he was blankly staring at the wall. Or maybe her snow globe. She couldn't tell.

About an hour later, bags in hand, Aria made her way down the stairs. Ezra was still on the couch, but he had Ruby in his lap and he was whispering to her. The scene made her want to sing and made her heart break at the same time. Ezra looked up and walked over to where she was. "Do you need help with your bags?"

Aria just nodded. They both stood there for a moment and Aria burst into tears. Ezra quickly grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug. "I don't understand why this is happening to me!" She wailed.

He just patted her head and shushed her quietly in her ear. Ruby looked at Aria anxiously. She could tell something was wrong. Aria slowly pulled away from Ezra and kneeled down to get to Ruby's level. She patted her on the head and kissed her on the nose. She hugged her tight one time, and without a word, picked up her bags and walked out the front door.

Ezra quickly followed. When he reached the car with everything else that was Aria's, she noticed his demeanor had changed. "Seriously, Ezra. Don't follow me."

He didn't say a word, just put his hands up as if in surrender. Aria tried to look at him as sternly as she could, but all that came out was a jumbled mix between a smile and a grimace. After she placed her last bag in her trunk, she made her way to the driver's side door with Ezra on her heels. She reached her hand out to open the door, but it was quickly intercepted by Ezra and in one swift move, he pulled her in to a kiss.

Finally, they parted and Aria tried to manage a smile. "Take care of my baby."

Ezra nodded. A noise in the window caused them both to look up. It was Ruby pawing at the blinds. "You take care of this handsome guy right here, okay, Ruby?" Aria called to her beloved husky. Ruby tilted her head in response and moved away from the window.

"I love you, Aria. Take care of yourself." Ezra walked her to the door and closed it when she got in. She slid the window down and he leaned in for one more kiss.

"Hold that thought," she tried to play it coy, but she couldn't hide anything from him. "I love you, too." And she started her car and started down the driveway, with one last glance at the man whom she hoped would keep her heart safe. It was another valuable she was leaving in his care.

.x.

Aria flipped through the radio stations. She was getting antsy with four hours of driving already under her belt, and just a little under an hour to go. In that time, she'd contemplated just going back and moving to Mexico. Never to be seen or heard from again. But that wouldn't solve anything. One last time, and this was going to be over. It had to be. She needed to start living her life.

A car with darkly tinted windows zoomed past her, and she rolled her eyes. "Always in a hurry to get nowhere," she murmured to herself, bitterly. She landed on a song she liked and tried to get into it, and try to shove A out of her mind until she absolutely _had_ to deal with her again. The sudden nightfall made her nervous, and she wanted to get off the interstate quickly. She made a turn onto a secluded highway, one that only people who lived here knew about. It was a short cut, and there were almost never any other cars congesting the roads.

A few miles down the road, and Aria had wished she'd stayed on the interstate. There were no lights but her own to guide her way. Nothing but high marble fences on either side, protecting the surrounding farmland. In fact, there weren't even houses for acres. Suddenly, it seemed like a _very _bad idea.

As if on cue, a car behind her flipped on their high beams. Someone had been behind her this whole time. She pushed the accelerator, trying to get down the very long, empty road quicker. But she was kidding herself. She knew the area well enough to know she had about another twelve miles before she'd see any other sign of human life.

The car was quicker and was right on her bumper. The lights were blinding her through her rearview mirror as she tried to speed faster. All of the sudden, the car rammed into the back of her car. They slowed down, and then rammed again. Aria's head was being flung back and forth as they rammed into her again and again.

"STOP!" She tried to scream. Frantic tears rolled down her face. Was she going to die? She realized they'd stop ramming her and she quickly looked in her rearview. Just as quickly, the car was right beside her as it rammed her from the side. She grabbed the wheel and turned it sharply. The maneuver went totally wrong as her tire hit a pothole and sent her car flipping sideways, landing into the marble wall. The sound of crushing metal was too loud in her head.

She was upside down. She could feel the blood rushing to her head and her arms felt tingly. She looked sleepily at the road and saw the car lurch and 360 as it sped back down the road the way it came. Then, slowly, Aria closed her eyes.


	13. A life in the balance

**Guys I am SO sorry it's been so long since I last updated. My computer took a big crap on me. I have a laptop and where it folds has a crack, and so it just started to totally blank out. I had to buy a monitor to hook up to my laptop so now I have a ghetto computer. And plus, this puppy is quite a handful. By the way, I never told you all what his name is. It's Fitz. As in Ezra Fitz. Haha, I thought it was cute. **

**I also just finished reading a book, Paranormalcy by Kiersten White, and it was AMAZING. Just a heads up in case you're in the neighborhood for a new book. And if you like that kind of thing, of course. Is this author's note too personal? **

**NinjaDinosaurGirl, I'd be happy to help! Thanks for asking me! Just shoot me a message with the kind of ideas you have already (unless you want it to be a surprise) and I'll help the best I can.**

CHAPTER THIRTEEN ~ A life in the balance

Emily and Spencer had been trying to get a hold of Aria for a while now. The phone just rang and rang. Fear panged in Emily's heart, but she didn't want to overreact, and she definitely didn't want to get Spencer going. When Spencer starts going, she's like the energizer bunny; she never stops. Although, looking at her face, Emily had a feeling she felt the exact same way.

"Maybe she just doesn't have service?" Spencer had tried to make it a nonchalant sentence, but Emily could tell she was panicking on the inside.

Emily half shrugged, half nodded. It was plausible, yes. But with the threat of A, that was very far down on the list. "Try to call again?" Emily suggested.

Spencer nodded and hit the redial button. The phone rang and Aria's voicemail just seemed to taunt them, "_Hey this is Aria, there are a couple of reasons as to why I can't answer the phone. Think about them while you leave me a message. Bye!"_ Spencer sighed heavily while she slammed her phone shut. "Should we…I don't know, should we maybe go drive looking for her?" Spencer was reaching. She hated being helpless. She hated being anything but the best.

"Right. Who knows when she left, she could be anywhere from here to Providence." Spencer looked at Emily with an I-knew-that-I-just-didn't-want-you-to-say-it look. Emily shrugged. "I don't know of anything else to do."

Emily and Spencer just sat there looking at each other blankly for a few minutes. Emily's earlier betrayal sprang back into her throat and she had to look away from Spencer. There was no way she could tell her now. In her head, she went over the possible ways she could react. None of which was pleasant.

After a few more minutes of silence, Spencer's phone lit up and began to ring. Spencer lunged while Emily sat straighter, looking expectant. "It's Aria!" Spencer shrieked. A smile of relief spread across her face. "Aria! Oh my God! Em and I have been so-"

A gruff voice on the other line interrupted Spencer mid-sentence. "This is Officer MacDonald. I redialed the last number on Miss Montgomery's phone. There's been an accident."

Spencer froze. Her veins felt icy and her stomach flipped and dropped into an unknown place. Emily registered the shock/worry/anguish on Spencer's face and reacted. "What?"

"Accident?" Spencer whispered, tears forming in her eyes. "Accident! Is she okay?" Her voice rang an octave higher as she began to find her voice.

Emily's head fell into her hands. An accident? Aria?

"Ma'am, please," the officer on the other line tried to soothe her. "She's unconscious, but she's alive. I do not know the extent of her damage, but she's being rushed to the nearest hospital. Are you kin?"

"Uh, no. But she was on her way to visit me." Spencer instantly regretted the sentence once it pour out of her mouth.

"Well, I'm sorry, but I will need to be in contact with an immediate family member. Would you happen to know a number?"

Spencer sighed, tears running down her face as she gave the police officer Ella's number. Before she had the chance to squeeze in another question, the officer hung up. Spencer sat in the middle of the floor with the phone against her ear. It was just cold metal. It gave her no answers. She slung the phone across the room and it landed with a quiet thud on the carpet. She'd wanted to break it. She wanted it to shatter into a million pieces so that she could _see_ something. So that she could _feel _something. So that she could direct her anger on _something. _

Emily sat limply against the wall, her head buried underneath her hair. Spencer couldn't tell if she was crying or if she was just sitting there. And frankly, she really didn't care. Four minutes had passed since she'd hung up with the officer, so she slowly stood up and walked over to her phone. She looked at it for a moment before picking it up. It felt foreign in her hands, and she almost forgot how to use it. She flipped it open slowly and flipped through the contacts. When she got to ELLA, she pushed the green call key.

It rang once and was answered right away by a very frantic Ella. "Spencer?"

"Mrs. Montgomery. Can we come? To the hospital, I mean?"

Ella sucked in a sharp breath, and Spencer could hear that she'd been crying. "Please. Please, come. I'm sure that's what she would have wanted."

Spencer hesitated. "Is she….is she okay?"

Ella sniffed. "I don't know. They said she's breathing on her own, but she took quite a hit to her head."

Spencer nodded into the phone, new tears piling into her eyes and spilling over. "What hospital."

"Rosewood Memorial Hospital." And Ella hung up the phone.

Spencer turned back to Emily. "Emily, text Hanna. We're going to RMH."

Emily slowly nodded as she typed a message to Hanna. _If Spencer says something to me in the next five seconds, Aria will be okay_, Emily thought to herself. _5...4...3.…2.…2.…2.…2.….1._

Spencer said nothing.

.XXXXX.

Hanna Marin was curled on the couch with her mom watching an old movie. It felt so good to be a teenager again. To not have to worry about the mess she'd created for herself. To be able to call to her mom in the middle of the night if she had a nightmare. Her whole life was a nightmare.

Ashley Marin had fallen asleep on the opposite side of the couch. A shrill beep sounded through the otherwise quiet house. The movie they had been watching was turned down significantly, so the beep made Hanna jump and quickly look around. Ashley's eyes sprang open and she reached down and handed Hanna her phone groggily. "Thanks," Hanna whispered. Her mom was already back to sleep. She smiled at her.

Hanna looked back at her phone. It held little to no attention for her. It was probably just Mike anyway. Her eyes slid quickly over the message, not once, but twice. She froze. It took her a moment to realize what the message was saying and who it was from.

_Hanna, call as soon as u get this. Aria is RMH in ICU. There's been an accident. _

Hanna sucked in a sharp breath. Her eyes shot back to her mom. Of course she couldn't feel like a teenager again. Of course she couldn't just have _one_ normal night. Her legs felt frozen in place. Her mind was screaming at them to move, but they just wouldn't. Hot tears slid down her face as she forced herself upright. All she knew was that Aria was in Intensive Care and that there had been an accident. She didn't know what kind of an accident. She didn't know if Aria was awake or if she was dying, or if she was already dead. Hanna didn't like when she didn't know.

She quickly kissed her mom on the forehead, careful not to drop a tear on her. She scribbled a note and left it on the table. She didn't want her to worry. She grabbed her keys off the glass coffee table and ran out the door.

She didn't waste her time calling Emily's phone like the message had said to. She was only ten minutes from the hospital, anyway. She wanted to see everything for herself. Assess the situation the only way Hanna Marin knew how. The only way her brain would accept. She ran through her contacts, stopping on Mike's name. That's when she remembered Mike was Aria's sister. That's also when she remembered that Aria was her best friend, she was dating Aria's younger brother, she was _cheating_ on Aria's little brother. She was a mess. Aria was a mess. The whole situation was a mess. Angry tears slid down Hanna's face as she slammed her phone onto the passenger's side floor. She looked up at the dark sky accusingly. She didn't believe in God. She couldn't. Not after everything she'd been through in her life. It wasn't going to end this way. She was going to see Aria laugh again. They were going to grab coffee together and plan a wedding for her and Mike. She would be her maid of honor. If Mike would still have her. She obviously couldn't tell him now.

Before she knew it, she was at the hospital. Without a glance back, Hanna was in the doors in seconds. Her eyes frantically searched the waiting room for those half familiar faces of her old best friends. Brown eyes met hers. Familiar, loving eyes. Eyes belonging to a handsome brunette boy. Eyes like those should not be layered with tears. Eyes like those should never harbor so much sadness. Yet they did. The boy rushed over to her. He pulled her into a tight hug she didn't realize she needed until that very moment. Everything passed in a blur to her. Nothing felt real, but at the same time everything felt _too_ real. He whispered, "I was going to call you, but Emily said she'd already texted you."

Hanna's eyes brimmed over with more tears. She looked over at Ella, Byron, Meredith, Lucy-Aria's three year old sister, Emily, and Spencer. Their faces all held different variations of the same worry. "Is she going to be okay?" Her voice came out ragged, like she'd spent the whole day screaming.

Mike leaned back to look into her eyes. "I don't know." His face fell and new tears slid down his cheeks. "I hope so. The doctors won't say much. They've taken her into surgery. They think she might be bleeding internally."

Hanna wanted to crumple onto the floor. Aria's future was unsure. Hanna's future with Mike was unsure. The earth was unsure as far as Hanna was concerned. Hanna could almost feel something in her brain mentally break off. She didn't know how much of this one person could take.

Just then, three nurses and a doctor ran through the room into another room very close to where they were gathered. The noise coming from the room was loud enough to deafen Hanna. It was the worst sound you could possibly imagine. It was the sound of a heart monitor flat lining.


	14. A face from the past

**To answer a question: no one called Ezra because no one knows that Ezra and Aria are together. It just happened. I know, sucks to be him, right? lol**

**Sorry it took so long, I just recently helped my sister in law move back to Georgia and we didn't have internet for a while. I know that it has been entirely too long, but I promise to try and update faster. This was just unacceptable, I'm sorry. And I've also been writing another story, but that one hasn't been updated in a long time either. So, I hope this one was worth the wait.**

CHAPTER FOURTEEN ~ A face from the past

Hanna's heart stopped as she watched the nurses and doctors rush into the room with the flat liner. A silent scream escaped her lips as everything moved in slow motion. Mike's hands fell away from her body and she began running towards the room.

The sound of her feet hitting the floor was the only sound she could hear. This wasn't right. It wasn't happening. She got questioning glances from either side of her, but she paid them no attention. She skidded to a stop in front of the room. She anxiously looked inside trying to find Aria. She would see her face, she would be awake and smiling and laughing and talking about weird 'Aria things'.

That wasn't what she saw. As she took in the room, and the warning glares of the nurses around her, she realized it wasn't Aria's room at all. Mike came up behind her before she had a chance to sink to her knees.

"What are you doing?" he whispered as he got her to her feet and walked her back to the waiting room.

Hanna took a deep breath and wiped away her tears. She didn't even know what she felt. "I thought - I don't know." She pulled Mike into a hug and rested her head in his shoulder. They fit so well together. How could she have forgotten that?

"It's okay," he cooed, as he ran his hands through her hair. "I know she'll be okay."

Hanna just nodded her head, more tears falling from her face. She looked over at Ella who seemed to not have moved an inch. She was staring at the ground with a blank expression on her face. Byron was rocking Lucy in his arms, trying to get her to sleep. Spencer, Emily, and Meredith all sat like stones. They didn't have any kind of expression on their face.

Hanna needed to get away. She wasn't going to leave, but she at least wanted to walk around. "Do you have your phone?" she whispered to Mike, while pulling away from him. He nodded. "I'm going to go walk around or something. Call me if you hear anything."

Mike just nodded, he didn't try to stop her. He knew her better than anyone. He knew her better than she knew herself sometimes.

Her feet moved without her brain, and she really had no idea where she was going. She didn't care. She just wanted to walk. She wanted to walk into yesterday, last month, four years ago, she didn't care. She just wanted to walk. To get away. To go somewhere else. To be someone else. She felt like a zombie.

Her feet had found their way into the cafeteria. It was full of people in scrubs, tired people, and zombie people, much like herself. _This must be what hell looks like_, she thought to herself. Who was she kidding? This _was_ hell. She made her way into the line and picked up an apple, some lettuce, and a cup of coffee. She smiled numbly at the cashier man and took her food to a table. She just pushed it around her plate. She didn't feel much like eating. She took a gulp of her scorching coffee, barely noticing it's burn as it made its way down her throat.

She looked around the too-white room, not seeing, just looking. Her eyes came to a stop, finally resting on something gold. Upon further investigation, she realized it was a police badge. Her eyes wandered up the badge, down the uniform, and finally resting on the face. She didn't know what had originally captured her attention, but when she took in the features - the all too familiar features - of none other than Office Wilden.

A cold feeing rushed through her veins. It all seemed too real now. A, Officer Wilden, car accidents, and hospitals. But Aria would be okay like she was. She had to be. That was the way it worked. Terrible things happened, but they never _really_ happened.

Hanna quickly looked away and and turned her head so in the case he looked up, he wouldn't recognize her. She wondered what he was doing there. It was Wilden, so obviously she was already suspicious.

Her stomach growled, and she realized that despite everything, she really _was_ hungry. She devoured her apple and started on her lettuce, when she saw Wilden get up and leave out of the corner of her eye. She felt compelled to follow him.

He walked out through the doors and down the hall. She scurried quietly behind him. She waited until she saw him round a corner before she quickly made her way down and turned the same corner. They were back in the waiting room. She quickly shot a look towards her friends and family. They looked as if they had barely moved. Before the sunken feeling in her heart took over her completely, she switched all her attention back to Wilden. He was making his way down the hall towards Aria's room.

Hanna tensed. There was no way he was making his way into Aria's room. Right? But he was. He stuck his head in her room, looked at her empty bed for a few seconds, sighed, and continued to walk down the hall. What was he doing here? In Aria's room no less? And why would he sigh? How did he even know that was her room? She was in surgery!

Then an awful thought crossed her mind. Was he A? Was he checking to see if he had succeeded? She wouldn't put it past him. He did act strange back when all of this A stuff first started happening. He was a washed up cop after it all died down. Maybe he was trying to revive his career.

Her thought began to consume her and she was almost all but lost in them when her phone began to vibrate in her pocket. She quickly pulled it out and saw MIKE on the caller ID. "Hello?"

"Hey, Aria's out of surgery. They are taking her back to her room. They think it went well, but they won't know anything until she wakes up." he was quiet for a moment, and then he softly added, "are you okay, babe?"

Hanna's eyes started to fill with tears. No, of course she wasn't okay! But for the sake of her sanity, and his for that matter, she just said, "yeah." She shut the phone and put it back in her pocket, wiped her face, and turned to walk back into the waiting room.

She walked right into Wilden as she turned. He smiled at her like she was the prey and he was the predator. "Hello, Hanna. It's been a long time."


	15. Tattle Tale Telephone

**A/N: I am SO sorry about how long it's taken to post a new chapter. You wouldn't even believe how many problems I've had the past couple of weeks. I won't bore you, though. But I hope this one was worth the wait. I have a new computer so the time between each chapter should be significantly less. Don't lose faith in me, guys!**

CHAPTER FIFTEEN ~ Tattle Tale Telephone

Emily sat in silence, surrounded by familiar strangers. She watched in paralyzing silence as an entirely-too-clean man in scrubs made his way to Ella and handed her a Ziploc bag with Aria's cell phone, jewelry, and personal belongings inside. She watched while Ella's face crumpled and fat tears rolled in streams down her cheeks. It felt final. Emily tried to tell herself it wasn't final. They always put loose items in bags to give to patients when they were discharged. Ella just happened to be here, and they just happened to hand them to _her_.

_If Aria is going to be okay, someone will say something by the time I count to ten. One…two…three – please, someone say something! – four…five…si-_

"Mrs. Montgomery?" A nurse with strawberry curls and short, stubby legs asked quietly, her hand on Ella's shoulder. Emily hadn't seen her walk in.

Emily sighed in relief. She wanted so desperately to believe that Aria was going to be okay, and if a superstition could give her that, she'd take it.

"I'm not a Mrs." Ella corrected harshly.

The nurse seemed unaffected. She rubbed her hand on Ella's shoulder soothingly. "You can go see her now."

Ella's head snapped up and her eyes bore into the woman, more than likely searching her face for the sign of a cruel joke. When they answered her own with nothing but empathy and slight happiness, Ella's lips turned up slightly at the corners and smaller tears trickled down her cheeks. "Is she awake?"

The nurse shook her head. "No, but she should be soon. I'm sure she would like it if you were there when she woke up."

Ella pushed off her chair, helping herself up. Byron was by her side in an instant. "I'm her father. Can I be there too? Please?" His eyes pleaded with the woman.

She smiled sweetly. "Of course. This way." She motioned with her hand and turned in the other direction.

Ella shot a look in Emily and Spencer's direction. Her eyes said it all. If they were to stay, as soon as Aria was up and okay she would let them have their time. Emily nodded once in her direction. Spencer wasn't even paying attention. Ella turned back to the nurse and they all made their way into a hallway, and quickly vanished from sight.

Meredith shifted in her seat and repositioned a sleeping Lucy on her lap. She looked at Emily. "Emily, right?" Emily nodded. "Can I ask you for a favor?"

"Sure," she said slowly, hoping she hadn't agreed to much.

"Lucy is getting restless, and it's really getting late. They said Aria was going to be alright, so I think I'm just going to head out and tuck the little one in."

Emily looked at her, when she didn't say anything, Emily said, "Okay," unsure of where exactly she fit into that.

Meredith shook Lucy awake and stood her up, smoothed out her shirt and grabbed her purse. She leaned over and picked up the Ziploc bag with Aria's things. "Can you keep an eye on this stuff?"

"Oh. Yeah, of course," Emily said, taking the bag from Meredith. She took Lucy by the hand and walked the toddler out.

Emily just held the bag in her hand, turning it over. It contained Aria's cell phone, keys, a couple pieces of jewelry and her purse. Aria was going to use that phone again. She was going to put the keys in the ignition of her car and drive somewhere. She was going to be okay. She had to be. There was no question about it.

Emily shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She looked to her right and saw Mike had drifted off to sleep. No one had bothered to wake him. She wondered if she should clue him in or just let him rest since he couldn't go in and see her again anyway. Hadn't he just called Hanna and told her Aria was out of surgery? So he must know…

Emily shot a look at Spencer to her left. She had a dazed look on her face, as if she was in another world. Maybe she was. Before she had the chance to think about anything else, Aria's phone lit up and buzzed through the Ziploc bag. Emily sat in stunned silence for a moment, unsure of what to do. She shook it off quickly and opened the bag. The phone was flashing the name EZRA. It took Emily a moment to place the name, and when she did, she opened the phone quickly. She said "Hello?" at the same time that Ezra scrambled out "Why haven't you called? I've been wo-" He stopped mid-sentence.

"This isn't Aria." It wasn't a question.

"No," Emily started. Not only was she confused, but she was a little uncomfortable talking to her old English teacher on the phone.

Ezra sounded panicked. "Why didn't Aria answer? Is she okay?"

Emily smiled sadly into the phone. So, Mr. Fitz hadn't just been a fling. There had been real feelings there. And now he was caught up in the world of A with the rest of them. "She's in the hospital."

There was silence on the other line and Emily had to check and make sure that he didn't hang up. "Is she okay?" he repeated.

Emily let a tear slide down her cheek. She hoped. Oh, did she hope! "She just got out of surgery; they said she should be waking up soon."

A mix between a cry and a groan sounded from the other end of the line, and it broke Emily's heart. "What can I do? Is there something I can do? I have her dog. Can I come see her? Should I?"

"Honestly…I have no idea. I don't know whether to come or go. I'm on such a fragile line, Mr. Fi–Ezra." A sob escaped her throat, and she tried to cover it with a cough. She wasn't fooling anyone.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, trying to quickly console her. "If I drive there, it'll take about five hours. I could…well I'd have to bring Ruby. I could rent a hotel. There are pet-friendly hotels, right?" His voice was cracking. He was trying really hard to keep it together.

"I'm sure she'd like to see you." Emily could hear an audible sigh on the other end.

"Thank you" was all he said, and the line went dead.

She left the phone to her ear listening to the dead air for a few moments, pondering. So Aria and the English teacher were back together. He was obviously in her house if he had her dog. It seemed serious. Now she was certain Aria was going to have to pull through. If she had a man that good waiting for her, she'd want to live. At least for him. At least for love.

Emily's stomach turned in a knot when her thoughts maneuvered through the love topic and took the Wren road. She didn't want to feel guilty about it anymore. She didn't want to look at Spencer and feel like she was betraying her anymore. She wasn't even sure if Spencer would care. But she very well couldn't drop the bomb _now_. Even if they were one hundred percent sure Aria was going to be okay, she couldn't do it now. The right time would never present itself, but this time was more wrong than any other.

Emily felt a phone buzz again, and took Aria's phone from her ear. It wasn't Aria's. Then she realized the buzz had come from her back pocket. She opened her phone, dread icing through her veins.

_Hey, Em! Seems your tongue isn't so busy being shoved down your friend's ex boyfriend's throat. Why don't you exercise it elsewhere? You can start by telling good ole Spencer the truth. You know if YOU don't, I will. _

Emily moaned and covered her face in her hands. _Go away, go away, GO AWAY!_ she shouted in her mind. She snuck a sideways look at Spencer. She was still staring off in space.

Emily looked up in time to see Hanna rounding the corner, her face pale. She looked like she'd seen a ghost. Just as Emily was moving to make her way to Hanna, shrill beeping sounded from Spencer's phone, pulling her out of her trance.

Emily's gut twisted and flipped, hoping it wasn't a message from A. She watched Spencer's face carefully as her eyes slid over the words on her screen. Her lips pressed in a tight line and her brow wrinkled in frustration and anger. Emily didn't have to see the message to know what it said. A had clued her in. Spencer knew.


	16. Red cheeks and confessions

**You guys better love me! Look at how fast I posted a new chapter. I know I'm awesome, no need to thank me. ;)**

CHAPTER SIXTEEN ~ Red cheeks and confessions

Spencer's phone beeped loudly, pulling her out of her trance. She pulled her phone slowly out of her pocket. The last thing she needed right now was a message from A. When she saw the sender was listed as 'Anonymous' she almost considered just deleting it. She didn't want anything else to do with A. Let A run her down, but just leave her alone!

Instead, she opened it, her eyes sliding lazily over the text. There wasn't much to read.

_Spencer, while you're sitting there getting comfort from your "friend", take a look at who's been comforting HER._

There was a picture of a rain-soaked Emily kissing a rain-soaked – WAS THAT WREN? It took a moment for Spencer to process what she was seeing. Emily, drenched from the rain, with her hands locked around the nape of Wren's neck with her fingers tangled in his hair. Her mouth pressed hungrily against his, his arms in her shirt and around her back. It was intimate. It used to be her.

Her eyes tore away from her phone to look at Emily. Judging by the guilty, sullen way Emily was holding her face, she already knew that Spencer knew.

Spencer twisted her fingers in her lap, trying to keep her composure. As much as she wanted to hit now, ask questions later, she was a respectable lady, and she would act as such. "Please, _please_ tell me this is just a sick elaborate joke. Please don't tell me that that is actually you sticking your tongue down the throat of the man who took cheated on my sister and took my virginity and left me. Tell me that's not what this is." She waved the phone in front of Emily's face, though Emily wasn't looking at the phone. She didn't need to see the picture to know what it was.

"Spencer, let me explain–" Emily started.

"If your explanation is void of a 'just kidding' or a 'GOTCHA!' or I'd even take a 'that's not me, I don't know who that is', then you save it. I don't want to hear it."

Emily looked at her hands desperately, trying to find something to say that would soften the blow. She should have told her. She should have said something. "Spencer, you don't understand. I can't he–"

"That doesn't sound like any of those three choices. Emily, how could you do this to me?"

Emily finally got enough courage to look at Spencer's eyes and saw real hurt there. It really hurt her. After all that time that Emily had told herself that 'Spencer wouldn't mind, he was an old boyfriend who didn't even stick around that long, why would she care?' she finally realized that she was only fooling herself. Why wouldn't Spencer care? Wren, after all, just took her virginity and left her. Why had it taken Emily so long to see that? Maybe she wasn't any different than them. Maybe Wren was just in it with her for the same reasons he had been in it with them.

Emily owed Spencer much more than an apology, but all she could manage was a small "I'm sorry".

"Yeah, I'm sure you are," Spencer said harshly, getting up from her seat, only to turn around and face Emily once more. "You know what, Emily? You know what I just can't seem to get over?"

Emily looked up at her. "What's that?"

"After all that you saw me go through, all the guilt and pain I went through when I did the same thing to my sister and when you sat there and consoled me and told me I was wrong when I needed to hear it, that you could turn around and do the exact same thing. That you could do that to someone you called a friend."

Emily stood up too, finding her voice. "But its okay to do it to someone you call a sister?"

Before Spencer knew what she was doing, her hand was trailing through the air, smacking Emily in the face. "You had a chance to learn from my mistakes." Spencer walked away, leaving Emily holding her cheek, shocked.

Hanna had pooled at the end of the hallway, watching the whole thing go down. Spencer walked by her without a look back, but Hanna could see tears beginning to cascade down her cheeks. Spencer didn't like it when people saw her cry. Hanna looked back at Emily, who was still holding her reddening cheek. She made her way over to her, forgetting the ghostly encounter with Wilden that she was going to talk with them about. "Are you okay? What the hell happened?"

Emily took a second to regain herself, and she sat up straight, looking at Hanna. "A sent Spencer a picture of Wren and me...we were…" she trailed off, making gestures with her hands that didn't mean anything. Tears began to build in her eyes and slowly spill over. "Why didn't I just tell her? Why didn't I just say something? It would have been better coming from me; no one deserves to hear something like that from someone else!"

Hanna pulled Emily into a hug, rocking her gently, trying to soothe her. It was then that she realized how much her own story paralleled with Emily's. If A had already spilled the beans to Spencer, nothing was stopping her from telling Mike. She snuck a look at him through Emily's hair. He was sleeping soundly, spread out over a couple of chairs. His face earlier had been so full of dread and worry that it was nice to see him looking so calm in his slumber.

She knew she had to tell him. But why did this have to be the time? She pulled away from Emily to look her in the face. "Emily, can I talk to you?"

Emily nodded, wiping away at her nose.

"I cheated on Mike," Hanna blurted. Emily's face registered shock, shooting a look at Mike, confirming that he hadn't heard Hanna's confession, and Hanna couldn't stop the rest of the words that came spilling out of her mouth. She told Emily everything. She told her about how the affair started, and how she desperately wanted to end it, but Jeremy had many things he could hold over her head. She also told her about how A knew, and at any moment could send a text that would ruin it all.

"You have to tell him," Emily said softly.

Hanna nodded, her own eyes prickling with the threat of tears. "I know. But I can't do it now. Not when his sister is in the hospital. Not when there are so many other things to worry about."

"Hanna, did you not just see the literal smack down I just got? You need to tell him. There _is_ no right time, but he has to hear it from you."

Hanna sent a desperate look in Mike's direction. This was sure to be the end. She watched him as he slowly breathed in and out. Hanna felt Emily's hand give her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "I'll be here for you."

"Let's hope Mike says the same thing," Hanna said, rising from her seat.

Emily left them alone, walking in the direction of the lunch room. Hanna sat a seat away from Mike, running a finger through his hair. He was going to hate her. But Emily was right; she needed to do it herself. If she were in Mike's position, hearing it from a third party, especially when that third party is a psycho bent on killing them all, would be one hundred times worse.

She shook his shoulder gently and watched as his eyes slowly opened, registering where he was. He sat up quickly. "Is everything okay? Is Aria awake?" He looked to the hallway leading to his sister's room.

Hanna nodded. "Your parents are in there now."

Mike visibly relaxed. He looked over at Hanna and saw the conflict in her face. He reached out to touch her cheek and she intercepted his hand, kissing it softly, once. "Mike, we have to talk."


	17. The come to

**Dear those of you who add my story to their alerts, but do not review: it is because of you that I am going to say this: I can, and will, be one of those annoying authors that holds chapters over your heads for lack of reviews. I work hard on my stories, and there's hardly anything I love more than getting your feedback. I already know how my story is going to end, you don't. I'm not writing these chapters every few days (or months, since I was slacking there for a while) for **_**myself**_**, I'm writing them for **_**you**_**. So please, take a second out of your day to quickly tell me whether or not you enjoyed the chapter, because it makes me smile and want to write the next chapter as soon as possible.**

**For all you others that are always reviewing, you make my heart smile. And I love you.**

**And I've never written a disclaimer. Guess I should probably do that, huh? Obviously, I don't own anything Pretty Little Liars related. All credit goes to Sara Shepherd. I do, however, own a Kindle. So that's pretty cool.**

**I even did a little research for this chapter. Aren't you proud of me? :) **

**x**

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN ~ The come to

Aria's head _hurt_. If ever she had complained about an injury before today, she'd been terribly mistaken. It felt as if someone was taking an axe and was hammering away at her skull. The blackness behind her closed lids were tinted with red, and she tried to wrinkle her eyebrows in the hopes to alleviate some of the pressure. It seemed to just make it hurt worse.

She felt a hand brush a strand of hair from her face. The gesture was meant to be gentle but it just felt like a punch in the head. She flinched inwardly, but must have visibly flinched because the hand quickly retreated.

She could hear a faint hum, almost like a steady whisper. It hurt too much to try to listen. She wasn't ready to open her eyes yet and face the light and the…_wait, where was she?_ The only thing she remembered was driving to Rosewood, and Ezra – _Ezra!_

"Ezra," she whispered aloud. Oops, she hadn't meant to do that.

A hand touched her hair again but took it quickly away again. "Honey? Can you hear me?" Ella's voice sounded haggard and hoarse. Aria didn't answer her. As far as her mom knew, she was incoherently babbling in her sleep. "She said something, didn't she? You heard it too, right?"

Ella was talking to someone else in the room. Aria didn't have to think much to guess who it was. "I think she said 'Ezra'. What the hell is _Ezra_?" Byron whispered.

_What_ as opposed to _who_. He knew who Ezra was. Aria's bed shifted as someone leaned in towards her. Hair brushed her face and she could safely assume it was Ella. "I love you. Please pull through this," Ella whispered in her ear.

It was all the coaxing she needed. It broke her heart to hear her mom so upset. But pull through what? What was she talking about? And why did her head hurt so freaking bad? "My head…hurts," Aria whispered, without opening her eyes.

She felt Ella sit up quickly. "Byron! Call the nurse, press the button! She needs pain medicine! Press the damn button!"

Byron mumbled something in Ella's direction, but as far as Aria could tell, she did nothing in return. Between the pounding in her head and the obvious holes in her memory (call a nurse? For what?), her parents at each other's throats was _not_ something she wanted to deal with.

A curtain pulled back in a quiet _whoosh_. "Is she waking up?" A woman's voice sounded to Aria's left. Did the woman really have to yell? Geesh.

"Yes, she said her head hurt," Ella answered her.

_QUIT YELLING!_

"I'm just going to give her a little morphine drip to dull the pain, but not enough to knock her out. If it doesn't get any better, feel free to use the call button located to the right of the bed. It should take about thirty minutes for her to feel the full effects, but she should start to feel a little better almost immediately."

"Thank you," Ella said softly.

Sure enough, almost immediately the drugs began to take effect. The pain dulled significantly in Aria's head. She felt sure enough to open her eyes. She blinked slowly, opting to warm them up to the light slowly instead of full beaming them. Her eyes started to slowly adjust to the light as she took in her surroundings. Plain white walls. _Bright_ plain white walls. She shot a look down at herself. A hospital gown. "Why am I in the hospital?" She asked her parents, who were both watching her movements entirely too carefully.

Ella reached a hand out to touch one of Aria's. "Sweetie, you don't remember?" Aria shook her head. "You were in an accident."

An accident? How could she not remember being in an accident? Suddenly a terrible thought hit her. Did she kill someone? Was there someone else involved? Is that why they were looking at her funny? "I didn't…am I…?"

"What, Aria?"

"I didn't kill anyone, did I?" Aria's eyes were wide as she asked the question. _Please say no. Please say no_.

Ella cracked a small smile. "No, honey. They told me someone ran you off the road." Her smile vanished just as quickly. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"So am I," Byron said, moving toward them to give Aria a side hug.

"I wish I could remember…" Aria said, closing her eyes for a moment, hoping something would come to her. Nothing did. "Am I in Rosewood?" She didn't even know where she was. She was beginning to get frustrated.

Ella nodded. Seeing the look on Aria's face, she chuckled. "Aria, don't worry. I'm sure you'll remember some more once you've been awake for longer than a minute. Don't try to think so hard, you'll bring your headache back."

"Are my friends here?"

Ella smiled and nodded. "Do you want me to tell them you'd like to see them?"

"Could you?" Aria smiled at her mom. Maybe they could help her shed some light on her situation. Perhaps Hanna knew exactly how she felt right now, recalling the time Hanna had gotten run over by A. That brought another thought to mind. Could A have had something to do with it? She was almost certain of it.

Ella pulled Byron out of the room by the arm, waving at Aria as they both walked down the hallway. Aria picked at the hem of her ugly gown. Not only were they ugly, but she was pretty sure she was naked under the hunk of cloth. That wasn't exactly a comforting thought. Her mind wandered to Ezra. He must be worried sick, wondering why she hasn't called yet. She should find a way to call him. She wanted to know how he was holding up. How Ruby was doing without her. She wasn't too worried about it; they already seemed to love each other.

She heard footsteps coming down the hall and towards her room. They shuffled loudly, a slow deliberate gait. She wasn't surprised when Mike came walking in, he never knew how to pick up his feet when he walked. She was, however, taken aback by his demeanor and sullen expression. His eyes were red and puffy, as if he'd been crying. His lips were pulled down in a slight frown. He looked like a little boy who'd just watched his puppy get run over. She must have been banged up pretty bad for him to react like that.

Reflexively, she reached for his hand as he sat on the edge of her bed. "Hey," she prodded, trying to get him to make eye contact. "Look, I'm fine. It's okay." She made a crazy gesture with her arm, signaling the fact that her limbs could move just as well as before. Well, with the exception of her broken leg, clad in ghastly white cast.

Mike shook his head slightly, looking down at the bed. "I know. I'm so glad. At least that's one good thing about today…" Suddenly, in an expression of emotion she'd rarely seen from her brother, tears began to fall down his cheeks, pooling at the corners of his mouth. He tried to wipe them away quickly, but Aria caught one of his arms.

"Mike, what's going on?" Aria was suddenly worried. What could _possibly_ make her brother act like that? The only other time she'd ever seen him cry was…actually, no. On second thought, she'd _never_ seen him cry before.

Mike met Aria's eyes, fresh tears piling over. "Hanna's been cheating on me."


	18. Old friends, old enemies

**I am so sorry. I honestly did not mean to withhold this chapter from you for so long. My keyboard just stopped working. I could only type like 5 letters and that was it. I had to wait until I got paid to get another keyboard. And on top of that, not only am I writing ANOTHER fanfiction on top of this one – which I've been writing for a while, it's not new – I've also been writing ANOTHER of my own original stories. So, again, I'm sorry for the wait. Still love me? I still love **_**you**_**.**

**xxx**

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN ~ Old friends, old enemies

Spencer didn't know where she was going; she just knew that she wanted to get there. Quickly. She knew her reaction was a bit irrational, but wasn't Emily's? She would never go after Isaac! He was _Emily's_ first, wasn't he? In terms of friendship, that's blasphemy! Sure, what friendship they _did_ have had fallen apart long before that, but they would always be connected in some way, shape, or form. And no matter how you sliced it, she was in the wrong!

Spencer stalked down another corner and found herself in a room that looked like it was used as a meeting place. It had a large wooden table with black leather chairs surrounded on all sides. That was all that was in the room. No pictures, no microwave, no TV, nothing. Just a table, chairs, and a small piece of paper.

Not that she thought the paper was of any importance, but she had the urge to read it. Just to take her mind off everything. She tentatively took one step further into the room and shot a quick look around the hospital to make sure no one was watching her. One more step. Then another. One more, and she was finally enclosed in the room.

It almost felt _good_ to be doing something bad. So focused solely on the loud beat of her heart instead of where she was and why she was there. She didn't think about Emily, or Aria, or even A. She tiptoed to the edge of the piece of paper. For all she knew, it was just a grocery list. But for some reason, her fingers ached to touch the paper and her eyes prickled to read it.

She took in the words, it was an admittance paper. It had names of people who were admitted into the hospital tonight. Really? They left papers like this just lying around on tables where anyone could just walk in? Room numbers and everything! She took in the names. Why not just go visit Sara Manchester in Room 412? Or how about Brett Randin in 606? Maybe even Andrew Campbell in room 125. How about – wait. Andrew Campbell? _Her_ Andrew Campbell? Well, not _hers_, especially not after the way they ended. But could it, in fact, be the very same Andrew who she dated in high school?

The paper fell out of her hand and fluttered back to the table. Her feet moved before she had a chance to tell them not to. She walked to an elevator and pushed the button for level one. Her stomach dropped for a moment when the elevator started, but she righted herself quickly. Should she really go and see him? How would she explain her being there and knowing what room he was in? Would he even want to see her considering the way in which she went about ending the relationship?

The elevator doors opened and she decided it was too late to go back now that she'd made it this far. Besides, she was smart, she could come up with some reason explaining what she was doing there. She walked down the hallway. To her left was room 100, to her right was 101. He must be down at the other end of the hallway. She briskly walked towards the end of the hallway, but it ended at 115. She took a right turn and another right turn into the hallways parallel to the last one she'd walked down. 130 was the room on her left. She decided to just casually walk by his room and see if he recognized her. But if he didn't, would she have to walk by again? Would she look like some crazy psycho walking back and forth down the hallway?

She decided to try, anyway. She walked, taking slow deliberate steps towards his room. As she made her way past his room, she decided that if he didn't notice her, she would just forget about it.

"Spencer? Spencer Hastings?" A familiar voice called out from room 125. Her heart stopped briefly, and she turned on her heels to peek into his room.

"Andrew Campbell?" She tried to sound surprised. Not like she had previously known his whereabouts and had briefly considered participating in questioning behavior in order to make him to notice her. "Oh my God. You're in the hospital?"

He shrugged and motioned for her to come in. She obliged. She scooted around his table tray and perched on a seat by his bed. "What happened?" Her eyes landed on a splint wrapped haphazardly around his left forearm.

He shrugged again, his eyes carefully examining her. He grinned sheepishly, but said, "I slammed my car door on it." He ducked his head in mock embarrassment and Spencer stifled at laugh at his expense. Good ole klutzy Andrew. He was the same. He even looked exactly the same. She was glad the way she had ended things hadn't necessarily omitted hope of a friendship.

"Sounds like something you'd do."

He was still studying her carefully. She could almost feel the way his eyes slid down her body. It made her feel a little uncomfortable. She had to say something to bring his attention back to her face, but she didn't know what. Suddenly, she found herself blurting, "I'm sorry!"

His eyes flicked back up to her face with a slight hint of what she could only guess was amusement. "Spencer…" he started slowly, as if talking to a small child. "That was years ago. No need for apologies. We're adults now, right?"

Spencer nodded. She didn't like being talked to like a kid, but she gritted her teeth and dealt with it, because she knew she deserved way worse than that. After throwing all of his things through a window and flaunting her obvious preference over him of some guy from her Government class in front of him, and calling him terrible things, he deserved much more than an apology. "Right," she answered.

They talked more about how he could have possibly slammed his arm in a car door. He laughed and explained that he had been in a hurry to get out, but his haste had landed him here, in the hospital. It seemed a little odd that he had a room all to himself for a small splint on his arm, but she didn't question it. After all, this was the same hospital that left a list of occupants and room numbers out in the open.

"So what brings you here?" Andrew asked carefully.

She had long since sat back and made herself comfortable. She sat up a little straighter as his question forced her back into the reality that Aria had been in the hospital and had been injured. And Emily had been screwing her ex behind her back. She almost didn't want to say anything and pretend he hadn't just asked her a question, but he was looking at her expectantly. "Aria. She was in a car accident." She tried to sound as noncommittal as she could, hoping he wouldn't think much more of it.

"She's okay, though, right?" Spencer nodded. He let out a breath of relief. "I mean, I didn't really know her much, but I wouldn't want something bad to happen to a friend of yours. Guess we should both stay away from cars for a while, shouldn't we?" He laughed, and Spencer pretended to join him, but something he'd just said didn't seem to sit well in her mind.

All of the sudden, she didn't trust Andrew Campbell.


	19. A confrontation of ghosts

**I'm so full of excuses, eh? But really, I should not be allowed to own technology. I'm always breaking, losing, screwing something up. My laptops are no different. I **_**finally**_** got a new one, one that works and ISN'T a dinosaur. So hopefully, I'll be able to update more often. I know you guys must probably hate me. **

**Xxx**

CHAPTER NINETEEN ~ A confrontation of ghosts

Aria picked at her hospital bracelet. Mike had filled her on in her "friend's" nasty habit, and had since left her alone in her room. She wanted to slap Hanna, cry for Mike, and for some strange reason, wanted to cry for Hanna too.

Soft footfalls, softer than a whisper, slowly made their way to her open doorway. Aria bristled. Whether it was out of fear, anger, or just plain reflex, she was not sure. A blonde head made its way around the corner of her doorway, keeping her head down.

"If you have the gall to come in here, you should at least show your face," Aria spat at the pathetic, crumpled excuse for none other than Hanna Marin.

Hanna did as she was told, her red, swollen, leaking eyes meeting Aria's. Instinctively, Aria held her arms out to welcome her friend into a hug. Hanna grabbed her tightly and thankfully, sobbing loudly into the crook of Aria's neck.

"Shhh, shhh," Aria soothed. She did her brother wrong, but she was hurting. And Aria couldn't turn her back on someone who was hurting. She patted Hanna's back and rocked her gently.

"I'm so sorry," Hanna whispered against Aria's neck. "I didn't want to hurt him. I would never want to hurt him!" Hanna sat up to look Aria in the face and Aria could see the conviction in her eyes. The truth.

Aria tentatively reached her hands out and brushed the tears from Hanna's eyes. She wasn't ready to forgive her, but she wanted to help heal some hurt if she could. "Why did you do it?" she whispered.

Hanna shook her head and tried to squeeze the newly developed tears in her eyes away. They fell tauntingly down her cheeks. "I don't know! I – we were having issues. I thought it was over. I was stupid. I was so stupid!"

"Hanna, take some breaths. Calm down. Just… just calm down. Okay?"

Hanna nodded and sucked in a few deep breaths while Aria patted her back reassuringly. "Why don't you hate me?" She asked quietly.

"I did. At least, I wanted to. And then I saw your face when you walked in here, and I knew I couldn't hate you. That doesn't mean I'm not mad at you, though."

Hanna laughed, one humorless huff, and nodded at Aria's surroundings. "You're the one who almost got killed and _you're_ comforting _me_!"

Aria half-smiled. "It's funny the way the world works, isn't it?"

They were silent for a moment, neither one looking at the other. Hanna broke the silence. When she spoke, she sounded broken. "Do you think he'll ever forgive me?"

Aria didn't look at Hanna. Instead, she squinted her eyes at the rising sun peeking through her window. "I don't know, Han. I really don't know."

* * *

Aria blinked and looked around her room. The sun was higher up in the sky. She must have fallen asleep.

Someone cleared their throat across her room and her eyes darted to the source: Emily.

Aria smiled. "Hey, Em."

Emily stood from her chair and made her way to Aria's bed where she took her place on the same corner of bed that had hosted both Mike and Hanna before her. "How are you feeling?"

Aria stretched and assessed herself. Her muscles ached in protest and there was a dull thud in her head. But other than that, she felt much better than she had the first time she woke up. "As good as I can be, I guess."

Emily nodded and they fell silent. Aria noticed Emily picking at a thread in the hospital-issued blanket covering Aria's legs. "Something wrong, Em?"

Emily looked up, stunned out of her trance. "What? Oh, no. Nothing's wrong. I just…" she trailed off.

"You just what?" Aria pulled herself up to sit at eye-level with Emily.

"I know."

"You know _what_? Emily, this is already getting tedious. Just tell me."

"Mr. Fitz. Ezra, I mean. I know." Emily smiled mysteriously at her friend. "Thanks for telling me, by the way."

Aria winked and smiled back. Just hearing his name made her heart swell. He was real. He was really back. She missed him already. And then she realized she still hadn't called him. "Em!"

Emily looked startled at the change in tone. "What?"

"Do you have your phone? I need to call him. I need to tell him I'm alright. He's probably worried sick. He's-"

"Aria, he's on his way here now. He should actually be here in a few minutes."

Aria's brow wrinkled in confusion. "He – what? How?"

"He called your phone and I answered and gave him the cliff notes version. He said he and Ruby were on their way," Emily said simply.

"You're okay with this?"

"Yeah…. Why wouldn't I be okay with it?"

"I don't know. I keep forgetting he's not my teacher anymore; that we can actually _be_ together now." Aria hugged her pillow to her chest.

"If it means anything at all, I'm really happy for you." Emily reached out her hand and clasped it over Aria's.

More footfalls sounded down the hallway. More than one pair. Loud husky voices pierced through the silent bonding of the two old friends.

"You son of a bitch! You stay away from my daughter!" Byron's voice rang through the hallway.

"Mr. Montgomery, let me explain –" Ezra's voice was the responding one.

Aria's heart pounded in her chest. "Dad! Stop!" She yelled, trying to pull her IVs out and make her way into the hallway.

Her head pounded and spots of black danced in front of her vision. "Dad…" she whispered

Emily screamed her name, but it sounded muffled and far away. Aria staggered and tugged at another IV in her arm, more black dancing around her eyes. She could just barely register Emily's arms around her trying to stop her from moving before the blackness took over completely.


	20. Bond of the broken

**A/N Aria sure does black out a lot, doesn't she? Oh, and I won't update again until I have 100 reviews ;) Love me? I love **_**you**_**.**

**And this chapter is pretty short and uneventful, but it's a bridge. Things will start happening. Soon.**

**xxx**

CHAPTER TWENTY ~ Bond of the broken

Emily caught Aria before she hit the ground. "Mr. Montgomery! Somebody _help_!" she screamed desperately. Aria was little, but Emily couldn't pick her up from the floor and carry her back to her bed.

Byron came clashing around the corner, a worried look on his face. Ezra's face showed around the corner shortly after. He looked wary of Byron but the right amount of worried for Aria.

Byron's arms replaced Emily's, and he brushed the hair from his daughter's face. "Aria?" He asked her quietly. "Emily, page a nurse. There's a button next to her bed."

Emily nodded her head once and pushed herself from the floor. She clasped her hands around the tiny button, pushing firmly.

"Do you need assistance?" A woman's voice came over an intercom that Emily had no idea was there.

"Yes," Emily answered back, unsure of where she should project her voice.

"Sending a nurse right in."

Emily loosened her grip on the remote containing the button and looked up at Ezra. His eyes had still not left Aria's face, and she could see the tension in his body from holding himself back. She could tell there was nothing he wanted more than to hug her, hold her, and make sure she was okay.

Byron looked up then and his eyes landed on Ezra's face. His features seemed to soften just the tiniest amount when he saw the pain on Ezra's face. You'd be lying if you said you couldn't see it. "Just…not right now, okay?" Byron said desperately.

He seemed resigned to the fact that Ezra was with his daughter. As much as he didn't want that life for his daughter, he couldn't deny the fact that he cared about her. Obviously, he cared about her. He wouldn't be there if he didn't. He wouldn't look so stricken if he didn't.

Ezra looked like every bone in his body wanted to disagree; to argue, but he was grateful that Byron was at least giving him that much, so he nodded and slipped silently from the door only to collapse just outside the room. He covered his face in his hands and just cried. He cried out of frustration, anger, worry, relief. Just… cried.

A nurse bustled into the room and helped Byron place Aria back on her bed. When she went to replace Aria's IV, Emily decided it was time to get out of the room.

When she rounded the corner, she found Ezra slumped against the wall, tiny sobs escaping his throat. She slid down next to him and touched his shoulder.

He looked up in surprise as if he hadn't heard her sit down next to him. He hastily wiped some of the tears from his face. "I look pathetic, huh?" He laughed one humorless laugh and raked his shirt over his face to dry it the best he could.

"No. Not at all." She squeezed his shoulder reassuringly.

He looked grateful for the company. "She'll be okay, right?"

Emily didn't know. But how could she not? She had been hit by a car _and_ had flipped upside down, exerting herself before her body was ready couldn't possibly be the thing to take her down. Could it? She decided to comfort them both with words she couldn't promise. "She'll be okay."

"Thank you," Ezra said quietly. Whether it was because he believed her, or he knew she said it to make him feel better, she didn't know.

They fell into silence. Both contemplating ways to comfort the other, both failing at trying to internally comfort themselves. And sitting next to her old English teacher, her hand on his shoulder, wasn't the epitome of comfortable in itself.

Emily opened her mouth to speak when the nurse sauntered casually out of Aria's room. They took it as a good sign, both jumping to their feet, stopping the woman in her tracks.

"Is she okay?" Emily and Ezra asked at the same time.

The nurse looked them over carefully. "She'll be just fine. Over exertion and exhaustion. She should be okay with some rest." She sidestepped between the two of them and continued down the hallway.

Ezra sighed in relief and Emily slumped back against the wall.

"Oh thank God," Ezra wailed quietly.

Byron poked his head around the corner. "Can I ask that you wait until she wakes up to see her?"

Emily and Ezra both nodded, although they wanted to do anything but.

"Thank you. I appreciate it." His head disappeared from view and Emily looked at Ezra.

"It's good news, anyway."

"I wouldn't call that _good_ news. None of this has been _good_ news. I'm glad she's okay, but I just… I…" Ezra trailed off.

"I know." Emily's eyes looked far away. "We're going to find out who did this. And we're going to stop them. For good."


End file.
